Fellow Longshore Workers’ Coalition members won office in local union elections recently in ILA Local 24 in Houston, Texas and ILA Local 1422-A in Charleston, South Carolina.

“It just bothered me to see people get abused. People are afraid to come forward to discuss their problems so I just felt compelled to run for office,” said TL Simon, President-Elect of Local 24, which has about 800 members. He explained that members are furious, for example, that people are being called for work at home, instead of getting their work orders through the hall.

Simon said he wants to help his union go forward by cleaning up illegal activities, enforcing the bylaws and listening to the members and acting on their concerns. “Having a stronger local means we can stand up better to the employers. We can’t bow down and let the boss walk all over us. All this needs to be changed,” said Simon.

In Local 1422-A, three LWC members won office: Leon Bailey, President, Randy Edwards, Trustee, and Derek Alexander, Secretary-Treasurer. Bailey said that they saw a mood for a new vision for this maintenance local of about 220 people. “We are losing work because our contract isn’t being enforced.”

They plan to fight for greater jurisdiction, cross-training and training on new technologies and increased coordination among the various locals in the district.

“We’re talking about democracy: we need to educate our members, our shop stewards needs to know what their rights are, and we need to create a culture where we all look out for one another,” said Bailey. “Without knowledge we don’t have power and without power we’re weak in the face of management,” he concluded.

The LWC congratulates these new officers and wishes them well in their efforts to strengthen their local unions.