While born in Maine, Ian was raised in Seattle. After pursuing math and engineering in college and working for a time in engineering, Ian returned to school and acquired a Fine Arts degree. He then worked in animation, teaching, and painting, among other things, before beginning work on the Seattle waterfront in 1975 as a casual marine clerk. Soon after joining the waterfront Ian became active in the Labor movement, joining in an organizing effort led by his brother, Jim Kennedy, for casuals to become part of ILWU Local 52. After his brother passed away, Ian took on his role as a leader, guiding a successful campaign to raise the clerks’ union status from “B” to “A” level. Ian has since served Local 52 in many capacities, as a member of the local’s Labor Relations Committee, and then as President of the local, before retiring in 2003. In his role as Vice President of the Seattle ILWU Pension Club, he represents the Club on the Pacific Coast Pensioners Association Executive Board, and as a caucus delegate to the ILWU. He is also an active member of the Harry Bridges Center visiting committee and was instrumental, as a member of the Washington State Labor Archive Organizing Committee, in gaining the ILWU Longshore Division’s pledge of up to $50,000 a year in matching funds for donations to the Labor Archives of Washington for three years. In 2018 Ian, alongside his wife Michelle, established the Kennedy Drayton Scholarship in Labor Studies to advance their deeply held commitment to education and organized labor.
Topics: The ILWU, Working on the Waterfront, Campaigning and Campaign Leadership, Organizing, ILWU Pensioners Club
