Norman “Norm” S. Parks was born on March 7, 1943, into a strong union family with a long legacy in longshoring. His father, Ezra, was a skilled grain “boardman” at Local 8 in Portland who knew how to load grain that arrived onto ships from shoreside elevators that sent torrents rushing down long tubes that roared at the open end below where men used heavy wooden boards to deflect the cargo into nooks and crannies of the ship compartments, so vessels could be “filled to the gills” and properly balanced.
After high school, Parks served in the military where he learned how to load vessels, experience that came in handy after he was discharged in 1962 and began working jobs on the Portland docks with his father and other Local 8 members. At that time, roughly 1 in 3 jobs on the Portland docks involved handling grain. Like his father, Parks worked a wide variety of jobs, but chose to spend much of his time on grain vessels where he worked as a deck man, spout trimmer, winch driver, boss boardman and safety spotter. Working shoreside, he spent time working in and around the elevators, gaining experience and knowledge that would help him in future years when he served on union negotiating committees.
In 1966, Parks married his high school sweetheart Diana, who became his wife, life partner and a Local 8 member for over 40 years. Parks encouraged them to set their wedding date on July 5, so they could always have plenty of company by celebrating their anniversary on Bloody Thursday – the ILWU longshore holiday that honors 7 martyrs who were killed in 1934 when the union was established.
Norm and Diana’s love for each other and for their union formed a strong bond that endured for the next 51 years. They had two children, Sheri and Michael, and eventually grandchildren David, Larry and Preston.
Despite their growing family, Parks became increasingly involved in union leadership posts and was elected by his co-workers to serve as Business Agent and Dispatcher, Trustee, Labor Relations Committee member, plus three terms as Local 8’s Secretary-Treasurer.
He was chosen to serve outside of Portland including frequent service as a delegate to the Longshore Caucus and International Union Conventions. Parks also became a regular face on the International Union Executive Board, where he served for a remarkable 28 years and travelled to meetings every three months.
“He was on the IEB for over half the time we were married,” said Diana Parks, who travelled frequently with Norm to meetings. Parks was deeply involved with grain contract negotiations and had a consistent presence on Longshore Negotiating Committees, participating in eight different contracts.
During the negotiations, Diana pitched in to help find housing for Committee members and remained in San Francisco for the duration of the contract talks. In addition to his role in longshore negotiations, Parks participated in a host of union committees that included Grain, Barge, Logs, Technology and Education. Parks travelled far and wide, including a union delegation that met with Mexican port workers in 1993 to discuss the ILWU’s opposition to NAFTA. Two years later, he travelled with his father, Ezra, to Liverpool, England, where the sacked dockers repaid the gesture of solidarity by honoring the visit with a brass plaque at their union headquarters. Norman Parks passed on January 8, 2017, while living in Goodyear, Arizona.
“Norm had the wisdom over the last decade to step back from front line leadership and let us young upstarts find our way,” said Local 8’s Stephen Hanson, who is now a pensioner himself. “He let us make the mistakes that were necessary for us to become capable leaders. Norm’s philosophy of work, be it the double-back or question of steadies, is marked on our local.”