ILWU activists convince City Council that port access is critical to the region’s jobs and economy

A controversial plan to build a sports stadium in Seattle’s “South of Downtown” (SoDo) industrial area next to the Port of Seattle was rejected by the City Council on May 2.

The 4 1/2-year struggle pitted a billionaire hedge fund tycoon and powerful developers against a community coalition of progressives, trade unions, the maritime business community, Port of Seattle, ILWU leaders and members from several locals. The coalition worked together to protect hundreds of good-paying waterfront jobs that would be threatened by the stadium’s inevitable traffic jams and gentrification.

More than 100 rank-and-file longshore workers spoke out and participated in public hearings. In addition to the community support, the ILWU’s lawmakers in Olympia – resulting from work by the Puget Sound District Council’s lobbyist.

The deciding vote involved whether to turn over a public street to the private developers. That proposal was defeated by the City Council in a dramatic 5-4 vote.

“This fight was always about finding the best location for a new stadium – which never should have been in SoDo,” said John Persak, President of the ILWU’s Puget Sound District Council, who helped coordinate the fight. He credited the victory to diverse community support that included ILWU members and pensioners who attended meetings and made phone calls to City Council members.

Former Local 19 President Cam Williams made the decision more than four years ago to challenge the SoDo location. Williams, who now serves as a Coast Committeman at the ILWU’s San Francisco headquarters, made the key decision with members in 2012 to challenge the stadium location and enlist expert legal help from the Washington Forest Law Center, a respected public-interest environmental group.

A slew of court hearings, mailings, news reports, editorials, and debates followed – sometimes generating intense pressure against the union from Seattle’s political establishment. Persak credits current Local 19 President Rich Austin, Jr. for continuing to support the fight after being elected President where he worked with other ILWU Locals and the District Council.

Persak is careful to note that the SoDo Stadium plan was wounded on May 2, but not killed. “We’ll have to remain vigilant to make sure our support from the Council remains solid because the pressure from the political establishment to build in SoDo is enormous.”