ILWU Canada’s International Women’s Day Event
By Jessica Isbister
3rd Vice President, ILWU Canada
In 2023 there was a letter circulated advertising leadership training for trade union women. At this time a local union official asked the question: What is the benefit of training women in leadership to the union? A long conversation ensued, and this individual did end up understanding but this question stuck in my head.
Several months later I attended the second annual ILWU Women’s Convention in San Francisco where there was a large delegation from Canada present. Here we all experienced the value of training trade union women in leadership. We shared new ideas; we lifted each other up and we strategized how to use our diversity to strengthen our unions and build solidarity across locals as we stood side by side in our battles to protect working people. I came home from this event fired up and ready to go. A couple of months later I was working with another woman who also attended the women’s conference in San Francisco, and we reflected on the great experiences we had there. It was at this moment that we knew we had to do something to reignite that energy and apply our learnings. Thus, a plan was formed.
On November 17, 2023, I put out the call to the women from Canada who attended the San Francisco convention, and the plan took shape – an ILWU Canada International Women’s Day (IWD) event.
We faced a very tight schedule, especially with Christmas right around the corner but these ladies hit the ground running. We booked our venue; obviously, it had to be at the Maritime Labour Centre; Local 500 generously paid the booking fee for us.
In December I had the good fortune of seeing Mich-Elle Myers Assistant National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia. On impulse, I invited her to be a keynote speaker at our event. It went something like this: “We are having our first-ever International Women’s Day event and would love to have you as a speaker but…. we have no money to pay for your travel. Can you come?” To my great delight and surprise, Mich-Elle did not hesitate when she replied that she would love to attend and asked that I send a formal invitation. I immediately shared with the group my presumptuous invitation, and everyone was as excited as I was to have secured such a great keynote speaker. I think for me this was the moment where I realized that we were going to do this and our dream would be a reality.
I won’t trouble you with too many more details of our committee work, but briefly, we designed a new logo for the t-shirts and hoodies and arranged food, tickets, tattoo artists, and volunteers to help run the event. I have to add here that ILWU Canada’s Jeannie Magenta was instrumental in helping us with many planning details. We also were able to secure two more prestigious speakers – Angela Talic of Local 500 and Brittni Paquette of Local 508.
As part of Mich-Elle’s visit, we arranged some dock tours. We visited DPW at Fraser Surrey Docks and then at Centerm. We also arranged a surprise visit to ILWU Canada’s Young Workers Committee meeting; the group was thrilled to have time to meet with her. We followed this with a quiet dinner and a good night’s sleep before the big day. The morning of March 8, we all arrived early and buzzed around as some of us got our tattoos and we all waited to begin. The excitement was high, and we were excited to welcome about 180 people!
Our emcee, Scarlett Kelly of Local 500, kicked things off by introducing from Squamish Nation, Shayla Jacobs and her daughter Soriah Jacobs who welcomed us to the unceded land on which our event was held. Both mother and daughter spoke eloquently, and Soriah graced us with a traditional dance of welcome and the singing of the Women’s Warrior song. Following this our first speaker, Angela Talic shared her story as a young woman in a male-dominated longshore workplace. Angela’s raw honesty and truth were felt by every attendee. Our Young Worker Speaker, Brittni Paquette was up next and she spoke about the importance of women’s participation and honoring our past as we look to our future.
After a delicious dinner, our long wait to hear Mich-Elle was over. Mich-Elle took to the stage and immediately connected with each person when she shared the nervousness she had felt while waiting to speak. Mich-Elle’s ability to speak to our large group yet make each of us individually feel heard and seen was remarkable. Mich-Elle shared her journey to leadership from her beginnings as a wharfie at Patrick Terminal. She encouraged us to work together and lift our sisters up, to never doubt our importance, and to make space at the table. We were ever so thankful to Mich-Elle for making time out of her busy schedule to join us on this special day.
Looking back I am now grateful to the individual who questioned the benefit of the union of providing women’s leadership training. ILWU Guiding Principle number one tells us that the union is built upon its membership, our membership is diverse and it is in this diversity that we gain our strength. This includes diversity in leadership. And of course, I must mention Guiding Principle number three:
Workers are indivisible. There can be no discrimination because of race, color, creed, national origin, religious or political belief, sex, gender preference, or sexual orientation. Any division among the workers can help no one but the employers. Discrimination of worker against worker is suicide. Discrimination is a weapon of the boss. Its entire history is proof that it has served no other purpose than to pit worker against worker to their own destruction.
Thank you to the entire committee for your tireless work and faith in this vision. Without your dedication, this never would have been possible. We are also thankful to the volunteers who showed up on the day and worked hard to make our event run smoothly. Your assistance on the day was so appreciated. Further thanks to all who attended our inaugural IWD event. We were honored to have local attendees, out-of-town guests, out-of-province guests, and even guests from out of the country. It was your presence that made our day spectacular.