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Local 19 Education Committee
By Sarah Ecsh
This past year Seattle, Local 19's Education Committee has been
taking baby steps in educating its members and casuals. In May, they hosted a
small event with a labor history movement author. At last year's Bloody Thursday
picnic the Committee put on an ILWU history trivia game and gave away prizes.
During the summer, educational bulletin boards were created for the
"B" members and casuals. For the past two months the Committee has
been creating an educational packet to give to each "B" member. The
packet includes ILWU information, a safety information card and the book, The
ILWU Story: “Six Decades of Militant Unionism”. Last month, The Harry
Bridges Center for Labor Studies at the University of Washington invited Harvey
Schwartz, Curator of the ILWU Oral History Collection, to speak to one of their
academic classes. They extended the
offer to Local 19. This gave the Education Committee an opportunity to host
their first big event of the year.
There was a phrase in Harvey Schwartz's speech that rang more loudly and
clearly than anything else: "Don't take the union's benefits for granted.
"As we are now living in a more conservative decade led by a Republican
president, we must be ready and unified for what is around the corner. President
Bush's tenure will end in 2008—the same year that we will negotiate a new
coastwide contract. We must remember the trials and tribulations of our past,
the lives that were lost for our benefit, and the successes we have gained. As
we prepare for the future, and most importantly, for the future of our union, we
must all breathe in the past, the ideals of Harry Bridges, stand together, and
breathe out: "An Injury to One is An Injury to All."
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