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“Awesome” was the word some of the participants used to describe the education they got at the ILWU’s 7th Labor Institute. They also used “awesome” to describe each other, as that special group of active union members who seek the knowledge to help their brothers and sisters on the job and to make the world a better place.
The 7th Labor Institute, held this June 13-17 at the ILWU Hall in Honolulu, brought together 117 men and women who normally work at their jobs like any other ILWU member. They clean rooms as housekeepers; they move cargo as stevedores; they stock shelves in supermarkets; they grind sugar cane, pack pineapples or cover macadamia nuts with chocolate; they drive trucks or they prepare meals in a hospital cafeteria.
But these 117 people are a little different, because they have accepted the additional responsibility as a union leader/activist. Some of them have been elected by their fellow members as the chairperson, secretary, treasurer, or shop steward of their unit. Others have stepped forward to do the job because no one else was willing.
They receive no additional pay or special privilege for their work as union leaders. They do the job because they understand that a strong union organization gives workers dignity and the power to improve their conditions. They do the job because they want to do their part to build a stronger union at their workplace.
These on-the-job leaders are the backbone of a democratic, rank-and-file union like the ILWU, and the purpose of the Labor Institute is to provide these leaders with the skills, knowledge, and support they need.
The comments on this page are the words of the participants themselves and gives you a glimpse of their “awesome” learning experience.
Great instructors
The ILWU recruited a team of 12 instructors from the Mainland and Hawaii to teach the 32 workshops. The instructors are not ordinary teachers. They specialize in the field of labor education, which requires different kinds of teaching techniques to be effective with adult workers.
These teaching techniques involve mixing up the way information is presented. There are some lectures, but there is also a lot of group interaction, practical exercises, role playing, examples based on life experiences, and other types of hands on learning. Here are some comments about the instructors.
“Terrific instructor, very organized. Made it interesting and very understandable to all levels.”
“She had us all working together and she held our attention.”
“She makes the subject easy to understand.”
“Fantastic instructor with lots of life experiences in the union.”
“The class kept me on my toes—my mind working.”
Learning can be fun
Learning should be fun. Education should be exciting and
interesting. We learn more when we enjoy the experience. As one of the participants
commented below—the material was very serious but the environment was fun. The
result—we learned a lot!
“Instructors worked well together; they made the class fun and interesting.”
“Great tools, fun class.”
“Very informative; with the role play made it fun & easy to comprehend.”
“Serious material—fun environment.”
“I enjoyed it and learned about politics which I found very interesting.”
Learning from each other
Labor education recognizes the fact that workers possess a tremendous amount of knowledge and skills based on their work and life experiences. Workers can learn a lot from each other by sharing their ideas and experiences. Much of the education that goes on at the Labor Institute is really people learning from each other. The job of the instructor is to allow this to happen.
“The interaction when we broke into groups was an excellent experience to learn from others with different ideas with the suggestions learned in class.”
“He keeps everyone involved in the subject matter actually doing the role-play helped me to understand and grasp the matter at hand.”
“Very interactive. We all took part in class. Very good style of teaching, lots of hands on.”
“We did a lot of exercises and use of computers.”
“How to do a petition—we did the exercises so it actually showed us how we could do it.”
More education needed
Many of the classes left the participants hungry for more knowledge. They wanted longer classes—six hours wasn’t enough. They wanted more days of training—five days was too short. They wanted every officer to attend. They wanted the Institute to be held every year or every two years (the Institute is held every three years).
“Very good, need more of these classes or smaller class done on the Unit level also.”
“This should be taught at all leadership classes. Safety should be in each and every contract.”
“Institute should be held every 2 years instead of once in three years.”
“Every steward and unit officer should attend a class like this.”
“Continue educating members.”
Sharing knowledge with members
The participants never lost sight of the fact that the knowledge they gained was not their’s to keep but to share with the members of their unit. The real test of the Labor Institute’s success will be back on the job when the 117 participants take what they learned to help their members build a stronger union in the workplace.
“This has given me much more of an idea about what I can do for my co-workers as well as myself.”
“Learned valuable tools and will be using the info she gave.”
“Helpful and knowledgeable instructor. Helpful subject matter that I can take back to my unit.”