Women on the Waterfront Oral History Project by Alison Steichen

Published on The Dispatcher July/August 2026.

In 2025, I founded the Women on the Waterfront Oral History Project (W.O.W) with assistance from the University of Washington’s Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies and the Labor Archives of Washington. The project honors women dockworkers and their stories across multiple generations. 

Last May, I had the privilege of speaking with current Seattle ILWU Pensioner’s Club President Mary Fuller Fairbanks. Mary was one of the first twelve women to ever longshore in the Port of Seattle. Though she holds the “first woman” title in numerous other categories as well, she is quick to gloss over her many personal accomplishments, preferring instead to focus on longshore work itself and happenings in the Hall. Most of all, she enjoys sharing about her many coworkers, even those who weren’t always kind. “Some of the guys would give me sh*t pretty bad and call me names,” she laughs. “So I just made sure to give it right back even worse.” 

Before joining ILWU Local 19 in 1980, Mary already had years of experience working for the Port of Seattle, Mitsui OSK Line, and on dock at Terminal 18. When news spread that Local 19 would begin admitting women, her supervisors encouraged her to apply. She already knew the work, including many of the men she would soon call union brothers, and had already proven herself as tough and hardworking. Mary belonged. 

Mary’s values of grit, fairness, and an unshakable work ethic carried throughout her 45 years on the waterfront. Today, she continues to lead by example as the first woman president of the Seattle Pensioner’s Club. Not everyone welcomed her election; some men even quit the club in protest of a woman leading. Yet none of them had ever run for office or put in the countless volunteer hours that Mary still devotes each week. She chairs meetings, plans events, assists with communications and outreach, and publishes the regular pensioner newsletter The Rusty Hook. She also mediates disputes and, occasionally, a brawl or two, because even the old timers can get feisty.

While working on the docks, Mary ran unsuccessfully for elected office in Local 19. Once she transferred to Local 52 (the PNW Marine Clerks), however, she began winning elections and serving in various leadership positions, gaining a reputation for her steady, no-nonsense leadership. Most of all, Mary was known for being a hard worker. She became the first woman to drive an over-the-road semi, hauling containers from pier to pier, a job called hook transfer. It was a job and crew she loved. She was also one of the first women to be a trained Super Cargo in Seattle.

When I first entered the industry in 2008, Mary was there for my first hiring interview. She didn’t sugarcoat it: “As a casual it’s rough and a real sacrifice. You must show up and you will get the hard jobs, but it pays off if you work hard and keep going.” Mary’s presence mattered. Seeing a woman in that room made me feel like I belonged.

Later as a casual, I discovered it was Mary’s voice dispatching me to clerk jobs– always clear, always fair, and always reminding me to bring a pencil and highlighter. Mary considers her union siblings to be family and some of her closest friends, but her son Danny, his wife Sam, and their three daughters are her true “heartbeats”. Danny continues his mother’s legacy as a longshoreman as an A-member in Local 19. Sam volunteers her time helping with union events and is awaiting her turn to join the ranks on the casual lottery list. Their daughters attend union events and look forward to the Bloody Thursday festivities every year.

Mary was tough on the job, choosing and excelling at work that most of the men opted not to take. She blazed the way for women to be considered serious workers. Yet, Mary’s greatest legacy may be her unpaid labor serving as the invisible backbone of union life, a role that is too often predominantly female, overlooked, and unnoticed. She and other women take on the tasks that others don’t. Not for recognition, but simply because they need to be done. Because of Mary, and the women following her lead, the ILWU is a stronger and better organization.

A full transcript of Mary’s interview is available from the Labor Archives of Washington at https://archive.org/details/FullerMary_WotW_Transcript/.

– Alison Steichen
ILWU Local 19 Pensioner