May Day has been celebrated as International Workers’ Day since the late 19th century, when workers in many countries around the world began organizing to demand better working conditions and more rights. In the United States, workers were particularly vocal in their demands for an eight-hour workday, which they believed would improve their quality of life and give them more time to spend with their families and pursue other interests.

One of the most significant events in the history of International Workers’ Day was the Haymarket affair of 1886 in Chicago, which is often associated with the origins of May Day as a workers’ holiday. On May 1st of that year, workers around the city went on strike to demand an eight-hour workday. The strike quickly turned violent, and on May 4th, a bomb exploded at a rally in Haymarket Square, killing several people.

The Haymarket affair had a profound impact on the labor movement in the United States and around the world. It became a symbol of workers’ struggle for better working conditions and more rights, and it helped to galvanize the labor movement in the United States and other countries.

Since then, May Day has been celebrated in many countries around the world as a public holiday. May Day is an important reminder of the ongoing struggle for workers’ rights and the need for continued progress towards greater equality and social justice in the workplace.

Attention Members:

Click on link to read about this upcoming educational event that will be held on Wednesday, April 26, 2023 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro.

Attention Members:

Click to read the latest ILWU-PMA press release on the status of PCL&CA Contract Negotiations.

Attention Members:

Please click on link for information regarding ILWU scholarships that are available at local high schools.

Attention Members. Click to see the results of the November 29, 2022 Local 63 Election.

On November 22, the ILWU locals came together to “Feed the Community,” the annual effort to provide Thanksgiving meal packages to local families in need.

Approximately 1,500 meals were disbursed to thankful families. ILWU Local Officers were in attendance to thank the members and community volunteers who assembled and distributed the meal packages. As always, ILWU Auxiliary 8 members were on hand to volunteer and most importantly, ensure that the volunteers had food and water.

A special thanks to the ILWU Credit Union for its reliable support and volunteer time.

Attention Members:

The ILWU-PMA Benefit Plans Office is holding One-Day workshops on the topic of “How to Read your EOBs.” The upcoming workshops will be held on November 8th and 9th in Long Beach.

Please click for more details.

Attention Members:

Please click to read the ILWU Press Release concerning SSA disrupting ILWU-PMA Contract Bargaining through circumvention of ILWU jurisdiction and actions designed to trigger NLRB intervention.

The Local 63 Officers will continue to keep you updated.

Attention Members,

National Public Radio (NPR) released a broadcast on the effects of port automation, which is also posted on the Coast Longshore Division Facebook page which states the following:

This morning’s nationwide NPR broadcast features four ILWU representatives: ILWU International President Emeritus Jim “Spinner” Spinosa, Local 13 members Yvette Bjazevic and Jimmy Monti, and Local 63 member Rebecca Schlarb. “These machines don’t contribute to taxes, they don’t contribute to the local economy. I think everyone should be alarmed.” – Yvette Bjazevic, ILWU Local 13 Member and Dispatcher.

You may listen to this informative and interesting broadcast here. Click on link below and then click on “7-Minute Listen.”

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/08/1121690513/california-dockworkers-are-worried-about-losing-their-good-paying-jobs-to-robots?fbclid=IwAR1kJ30xiCHJpyFKYM7n2FF3Ocjl0UYNQ8up5D3_2Z5UPE0qTsbEmNzGQJE