IEB meets in Seattle

IEB meets in Seattle

Board approves two new
policy statements, Opposing AI & Automation
Technologies, Condemning attacks on migrants.
FThe ILWU's International
Executive Board met in Seattle, WA,
from August 5-8. The Executive
Board meetings now rotate across
different regions as part of the Titled
Officers' efforts to make it easier
for members to observe the Board's
work, promote transparency, and
re-engage the membership.
Over the three-day meeting,
more than 60 rank-and-file members
attended, including members from
Locals 5, 13, 19, 22, 52, 100, the
American Radio Association, and
the Hawai'i Longshore DivisionLocal 142.
In addition to the trustees' report,
officers' reports, and local area and
committee reports, the Board debated
and passed two new statements of
policy introduced by the Programs
and Policies Committee.
Legislative report
The legislative report was
presented by Senior Policy Advisor
Alexa Jurczak, who emphasized the
union's efforts to advocate for the
political interests of ILWU members
across various regions and divisions.
She discussed the impact the "One
Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA) will
have on workers, including cuts to
SNAP and Medicaid. The OBBBA is
projected to significantly increase
the budget deficit, which will trigger
mandatory Medicaid cuts starting
in 2026, unless Congress adopts
additional measures (See the July/
August 2025 issue of the Dispatcher).
Jurczak also highlighted that
the ILWU mobilized members
and pensioners to help remove a
dangerous provision in the OBBBA
that would have prevented states
from enacting or enforcing laws
related to artificial intelligence and
automation.
IEB meets in Seattle
ILWU Statement of Policy Opposing Anti-Worker Artificial
Intelligence and Automation Technologies
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) strongly opposes the use of
artificial intelligence (AI) and automation technologies to surveil, discipline, and displace workers.
We demand strict oversight and a voice in how these new technologies are implemented in
our workplaces. Strong regulation is needed at the local, state, and federal levels to protect our
jobs, our economy, and our national security from the risks posed by automation and AI.
Automation and AI will lead to mass layoffs
Our members - from hotel staff to crane operators to warehouse workers -are all too familiar
with how employers use "new technology" as a smokescreen for reducing hours, degrading
working conditions, and eliminating jobs. There is a lot of uncertainty over just how many jobs
will be lost to automation and AI in the coming decades. Certain automation technologies, like
self-checkout at grocery stores, or self-driving equipment, are already displacing workers in a wide
array of industries. Automation technology can also make the jobs that are not automated more
exhausting and punitive - for example, as warehouse technology and monitoring systems speed
up the pace of work, warehouse workers are increasingly subjected to ever harsher working
conditions, leading to injury and exhaustion. The use of automation and AI technologies to
eliminate work for actual human beings must be opposed outright.
Serious questions remain over the safety and ethics of AI technologies
AI, automation, and other digital technologies open up our workplaces and communities
to a huge number of safety and ethical concerns. There are major data privacy issues with
many of the leading AI technologies, as well as national security concerns, particularly at our
ports. AI systems that are trained on biased or discriminatory data end up exacerbating these
biases, leading to unfair hiring, firing, and decision-making processes in the workplace. AI can
create misleading and inaccurate photos, videos, and social media content that fuel division and
distrust in our communities. Studies have also revealed the enormously destructive impact that
AI has on the environment, as it uses vast amounts of water and electricity and puts immense
pressure on the electric grid.
AI and automation present grave threats to the supply chain
We call for robust restrictions on AI, machine learning, and automation in port
operations to safeguard security, ensure reliability, and maintain human-centered control. AI
and automated infrastructure expose high-value supply chain targets to foreign infiltration
and misuse for malicious intent. Reliance on AI produces errors that can lead to catastrophic
mismanagement. Relinquishing control of our critical supply chains to AI for medical, industrial,
agricultural, energy, and military logistics puts our lives and our economy at risk. Most cargo
handling equipment is foreign manufactured, with loosely regulated software creating an
enormous security threat. These technologies should only be introduced where there are strong
safeguards, including affirmative human oversight, cybersecurity, and transparent audits.
Strong regulation is critical to ensure that these new advances in technology
are used to assist - not displace - workers
These emerging AI and automation technologies must be regulated to ensure they are only
used to make work more productive and safer, not to surveil, discipline, or displace workers.
Absent proper regulation, mass layoffs due to AI lead to falling tax revenue, setting off a
catastrophic spiral of reduced government funding for essential social programs and services, at
a time when more workers may need government support than ever before. Today's technology
companies are some of the wealthiest companies in history - there is more than enough money
to ensure that workers do not bear the brunt of these technological changes.
This is common sense, not a partisan or political issue. The ILWU recognizes that all
workplaces must adapt to technological change - our Union has been bargaining over the impact
of new technologies in our workplaces for generations. We are demanding a seat at the table in
negotiating how automation and AI impact our membership and that adequate safeguards be
put in place so that these new technologies work with our members and all working people.
ILWU Statement of Policy Condemning
Attacks on Migrants
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) unequivocally condemns
attacks on migrants by the federal government and Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE). Ongoing federal immigration raids across our country are brutal and
destructive actions designed to terrorize and destabilize migrant communities - not to
keep our country safe. The ILWU stands in solidarity with all migrant workers and calls
on the labor movement to stand up, once more, against these often violent, unnecessary
escalations.
Recent immigration raids are unjustly targeting workers
Since January 2025, federal immigration raids have increased in magnitude,
targeting migrants at schools, workplaces, and even churches. Contrary to the current
administration's claims that the focus is on migrants with criminal records, the majority
of the nearly 100,000 people detained by ICE since January have no criminal convictions.
Tens of thousands of hard-working community members, many of whom have lived in
the United States for decades, are having their lives turned upside down - just trying to
meet White House advisor Stephen Miller's alleged quota of "3,000 arrests a day." We
do not support a national policy that destroys families, destabilizes our communities, and
does nothing to make anyone safer.
Everyone's civil rights are threatened by this extreme federal overreach -
not just migrants
The federal government's unprecedented actions in Los Angeles, throughout
Southern California, and across the country pose severe threats to everyone's civil
liberties. Deploying National Guard troops to Los Angeles was a dangerous escalation
of force designed to instill fear and stifle dissent. The right to peaceful protest is a
bedrock of American democracy and must not be infringed on. Far-right immigration
policies proposed in Project 2025 (a political initiative with close ties to the current
administration), such as an intensified nationwide deportation machine, the expansion
of migrant detention centers, and a harsh crackdown on asylum seekers, are quickly
becoming our reality. People are being snatched off the street by unidentified and/or
masked ICE agents, denied due process, and sometimes deported to countries they have
never even been to. These actions are an assault on basic civil and human rights and an
affront to rights afforded by the United States Constitution. The current administration's
statements and actions resemble the fascist regimes of Europe in the 1930s.
Aggressive, reckless immigration enforcement is a wedge used to divide
workers and weaken our collective power
Anti-migrant rhetoric and policies turn struggling U.S.-born workers against their
migrant neighbors, rather than against the employers who exploit workers and keep
wages low. ILWU's Third Guiding Principle states, "Workers are indivisible. There can
be no discrimination because of race, color, creed, national origin, religious or political
belief, sex, gender preference, or sexual orientation," and our Fourth Principle states,
"To help any worker in distress must be a daily guide in the life of every trade union and
its individual members. Labor solidarity means just that."
Honoring our Guiding Principles means opposing any actions or rhetoric that pit
workers - no matter where they were born - against each other. Any attack on migrants
is an attack on the working class. We stand in solidarity with migrant communities and
workers across this country in the face of these escalating acts and call on our union
brothers, sisters, and siblings to mobilize in defense of our fellow workers. We also call
for bipartisan federal legislation to create a fair, humane, and functional immigration
policy that protects human rights. An injury to one is an injury to all.