ILWU’s 18,000 JOIN THE MOVEMENT
June 25, 2020 – It is a great honor to share the news that ILWU Local 42 and its 18,000 members have joined our campaign to create a better Hawaii. I am incredibly proud to stand together with the ILWU Local 142 to improve the working conditions and the quality of life for their families. When people unite within a company, an industry, a community, or across the state - all, even non-union workers, benefit when we raise the standards for workplace safety and fair wages.
P.S. - Read our June 25 campaign newsletter here. Join us and let your voice be heard at the August 8 election for State House Representative of District 26. The 26th State House District encompasses McCully, Kaheka, Ala Moana, Kakaako, and Downtown Honolulu.
NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ILWU
ILWU LOCAL 42 ENDORSES KIM COCO IWAMOTO FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE
The ILWU Local 142 announced today its endorsement of Kim Coco Iwamoto in the race for State Representative, District 26. The ILWU Local 142’s endorsement is a major boost to Kim Coco Iwamoto’s campaign looking to unseat incumbent Scott Saiki.
“Kim Coco Iwamoto will be a champion for working families as the next State Representative for District 26” said Michael Yamaguchi, Oahu Division Director of the ILWU Local 142. “As an elected member on the Board of Education and as a private citizen, Kim Coco Iwamoto has always advocated for working families and will be a much-needed voice at the Legislature.”
The ILWU Local 142 represents over 18,000 members in Hawaiʻi. Its members are employed in every major industry, including general trades, tourism, longshore and agriculture.
Kim Coco Iwamoto began working at age 10, delivering newspapers afterschool for the Honolulu Star Bulletin. She became an advocate for workers’ rights after she had been terminated from her job for being transgender at a time when laws permitted employers to discriminate on this basis. In response, Kim Coco enrolled in law school, passed the bar in Hawaii, then became an active member of the coalition that expanded worker protections throughout the state.
Kim Coco Iwamoto has attracted hundreds of volunteers to her campaign - they share her recognition that the Legislature’s status quo leadership has led Hawaii to the precipice of economic disaster. “We already had the highest rates of homelessness and half of those with housing were living paycheck-to-paycheck. After decades of the legislature berating department budget requests, today we find ourselves with IT infrastructure that abandons tens of thousands of families without access to their unemployment insurance monies. The incumbent had 26 years to repair and improve our social safety nets; this is not the time to double-down on ineffective leadership.”