Singer/Songwriter Paul "From Da Hall" Williams. Photo by Tom Price.

Paul "from Da Hall" Williams, a member of longshore Local 10's Drill Team in San Francisco has recently released a CD-single/mp3 memorializing ILWU founder and first International President Harry Bridges.  The song also pays respect to the brothers and sisters who gave their efforts and, sometimes, even their lives, to preserve the union. 

"Under da Hook," written and sung by Williams and produced by DJ Sonic Boon features lyrics like these:

To be a longshoreman, you got to get dirty.

Dirty, dirty, dirty.

 

Under the hook, we got it goin on.

Under the hook we got it goin strong

 

Under the hook here we go again

Under the hook from Local 10

No word on whether the tune and its three remixes will be available commercially, on sites like iTunes, but you can listen to the original version here (requires mp3/Windows Media player).    

Local 502 members pictured here are (back row, left to right): night B.A Marko Karpan, day B.A. Chris Verbeek, Secretary Treasurer Rob Ford, Executive Board member Tim Farrell, E.A.P. Councilor DarwinGerrard, retiree Joe Breaks, and member Jim O'Donnell.  In front are: President Chad O'Neil, Executive Board member Vern Whitley, member Chuck Zuggerman, and member Troy Konkin.  

Local 502 members in Canada have designed a flag that they’d like to make available to other locals. 

“We thought all ILWU locals needed a flag, so we designed this one to fly proudly at our local and display at rallies and picket lines,” said Tim Farrell, who led the rank-and-file flag effort with Troy Konkin--whose inspiration powered the project.

More details and ordering information are available from Tim Farrel  at Local 502 at 604.580.8882.

ILWU President Robert McEllrath and Democratic Presidential Candidate U.S. Senator Barack Obama at the San Francisco Labor Council in Summer 2007 (D-Ill.). Photo by John Showalter.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President today, concluding he is “the best candidate for working families.”

International Executive Board members made the decision after meeting with different campaigns and examining their positions on key issues that will impact working families in the coming years, including:

• Bringing our troops home safely from Iraq.
• Re-thinking “free trade” agreements that have destroyed jobs.
• Making quality, affordable health care available to all Americans.
• Allowing workers to choose unions without employer intimidation.
  

“America’s working families are ready for a candidate with a fresh approach who will put people first and hold corporations more accountable,” said ILWU International President Bob McEllrath.  “Obama met with us, listened to our concerns, and we think he’ll do the best job on the issues that matter most to working families.”

A PDF of the full endorsement is available on the ILWU's 2008 Press page.