Mr. Benny Holland, Jr.

Executive Vice President Emeritus
International Longshoremen’s Association

Benny Holland, Jr. was re-elected Executive Vice President Emeritus of the International Longshoremen’s Association at the ILA’s quadrennial convention in July 2019. He was first elected to that post in July 2015.  He has been part of the ILA for more than 60 years.

Holland had previously served for nearly a quarter century as one of the ILA’s top Executive Officer—the past four years as Executive Vice President and the previous 20 years as General Vice President.

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 an ILA Vice President to the International’s Executive Council in March 1982, and was re-elected to that post in 1983 and 1987.

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. The South Atlantic and Gulf Coast District encompasses all ports along the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to Florida and the ports along the Gulf from Florida west to Texas. Holland was re-elected District President in 1994 and 1998.

In 2002, 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. He held the position of District President Emeritus from 2002 until July 2015.

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, and 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 over 57 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 and four great grandchild, Sutton, Case, Stetson, and Remy Joe.