EVERETT – These days, things look a lot like the old days to Gig Larson, who retired last week after working about 45 years on the Everett waterfront.
“I started in the ’60s,” Larson said of his membership in Local 350 of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union. “There were so many log ships, you could walk to Hat Island. We had a ton of work.”
Larson has spent the last 15 years or so as a union official, serving as president, business agent and, most recently, head of labor relations. He said he believes he’s going out at a good time, one like the old times.
“I’m going out on a high side of it,” he said, noting the union recently hired 22 workers and expects to hire a similar amount during the next couple years.
Larson said he worked through a period where there wasn’t much business at the port and the union’s membership declined.
Kenny Hudson, the business agent, agreed.
“We felt they wanted to be landlords,” Hogan said, noting shipping at the port had really hit a low point.
Today, Larson said, log shipments have all but disappeared. But a new contract to import cement and regular visits from two shipping lines have really stepped up activity at the port.
Larson said his retirement from the union doesn’t mean he won’t still be involved.
“I want to be involved on the pensioners’ end of the union,” he said. “And I will still keep an eye on the port.”
He urged area residents to be supportive of the port’s growth in handling cargo, saying that the hustle and bustle will mean more family-wage jobs for his fellow union members.
“When I started, we worked around the clock at Weyerhaeuser, and not a word was said about it because it was normal,” he said. “Now we’re only reclaiming some of the work we had in our heyday.”
Larson said he is proud of his union and believes it’s in good hands.
“My son’s in the union,” Larson said. “Hopefully he’ll come up and get involved.”
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