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Mr. Benny Holland, Jr.
General Vice President
International Longshoremen's Association, AFL-CIO
Benny Holland, Jr. was re-elected to his fifth four-year term as General Vice President of the International Longshoremen’s Association, AFL-CIO at the union’s International quadrennial convention in July 2007.
A native of Galveston, Texas, Holland joined the ILA in 1960 when he became a member of ILA Local 307 in his hometown port. He became business agent of that local in 1969 and was later elected Vice President in 1973. Two years later, Holland was elected President of Local 307.
In 1978, the South Atlantic and Gulf Coast District elected Holland its Secretary-Treasurer. He was elected a Vice President of the International’s Executive Council in March 1982.
Mr. Holland was named President of the South Atlantic District in March 1990 following the death of J.H. “Buddy” Raspberry. Mr. Holland was later elected to a four-year term at his District’s convention in July 1990 in Corpus Christi, Texas. The South Atlantic and Gulf Coast District encompass all ports along the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to Florida and the ports along the Gulf from Florida west to Texas. He was re-elected District President in 1994 and 1998.
In 2002, Mr. Holland did not run for re-election as District President and was elected as President Emeritus of the South Atlantic and Gulf District, ILA, AFL-CIO.
Holland has been active in his community, having served on the board of directors of Interfirst Bank and St. Mary’s Hospital in Galveston. He was elected chairman of the Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees June 2003, a position he has held for 12 of the 19 years he has served as a trustee for the Port of Galveston. He was chosen as 2001 “Person of Vision” by Prevent Blindness Texas.
In 2007, Benny Holland was Man of the Year at the J.H. Raspberry Scholarship Award Dinner.
Holland and his wife, the former Peggy Crawford, have been married for forty-five years and reside in Galveston, Texas. They have three daughters; Pam, Dana and Amy, and eight grandchildren; B.J., Blake, Ashley, Kaleb, Mary Alex, Mathew, Spencer and Jaxson.
Benny Holland, Jr.
General Vice President
1827 The Strand
Galveston, TX 77550
409-762-2341