A “Members for Change” slate overwhelmingly won the election race for new officers in ILA Local 2047 in Lake Charles, Louisiana on March 26. Several of the new officers are members of the LWC.

The new leadership, which will take office mid-April, campaigned because they wanted to “build an honest union that represents all members.” Some of the issues they raised on their campaign literature included:

* Fair hiring practices based on seniority;
* Equal opportunities to get special jobs;
* A stronger union that stands up to management by filing grievances and enforces members rights to safe work practices;
* A transparent union: members get information on the union’s finances;
* A plan to bring more workers into the union.

The outgoing president, Lash Chretien, had been in office for 24 years. His brother is the superintendent of the only stevedoring company operating in Lake Charles. (Read here for an article on the problems in this local dating back to 2003).

Congratulations to Willie Goins, President-elect, Glenn Lewis, re-elected Business Agent and all the other members of the new leadership of ILA Local 2047.