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Longshore Workers Commemorate Bloody Thursday |
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Up and down the West Coast today, members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) are commemorating the 74th anniversary of “Bloody Thursday.”
On July 5, 1934, San Francisco police, backed up by the National Guard, opened fire on a group of 2,000 dockworkers, sailors and other maritime workers, killing two and wounding scores of others.
The longshore workers had struck San Francisco and other West Coast ports May 9. They demanded recognition of their union and the ouster of a company union—one that controlled who got work, who didn’t, what workers were paid and what meager benefits, if any, they received for their backbreaking and dangerous work in cargo holds and on the docks. Other maritime workers joined them in solidarity.
Shipowners and port operators brought in strikebreakers and hired thugs in an attempt to keep the ports open and to intimidate and break the strikers’ solidarity. Prior to Bloody Thursday, four strikers had been shot and killed in San Pedro, Calif., and Seattle and Portland., Ore. In San Francisco, police had opened fire on the picket line. But workers remained strong.
Shipowners were determined to reopen the piers and got the backing of local and state officials who dispatched police, the National Guard and armed goons to provoke pitched battles in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and San Pedro. Here’s how Tom Price, ILWU Dispatcher assistant editor, describes the San Francisco scene:
In San Francisco some 800 cops, with National Guard backup, attacked 2,000 strikers Thursday, July 5, in an attempt to reopen the port. The battle raged on for most of the morning, though nearly everyone stopped for lunch. Workers gathered quietly in front of the union hall on Steuart Street. Then cops pulled up and started firing into the crowd. Longshoreman Howard Sperry was hit in the back. Nick Bordoise from the Marine Cooks and Stewards Union went down. Both men died. At least 32 others were wounded by gunfire—none of them cops—and hundreds more injured.
But the ports stayed closed. Workers paid their last respects to Sperry and Bordoise July 9 when 40,000 marched silently in a funeral procession on San Francisco’s streets. The rest of the city shut down July 16 in a general strike. By the end of the month the strike was over. Longshore workers had the hiring hall under union control.
Along with winning control of the hiring hall, the longshore workers won their demand for a six-hour day and better pay. During the strike, Harry Bridges emerged as the major voice and leader of the dock workers union that was to become the ILWU.
Click here for more on Harry Bridges and the play “From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks.” A video presentation of the play is available in The Union Shop Online.™
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Those labor heroes, those working class martyrs…were part of a movement that went far beyond the I, Me, and My-isms that have infiltrated the psyche of too many of today’s American working class..
Back then, the resolve was to ”help any worker in distress”. The maxim, “An Injury To One Is An Injury To All” was more than just a catchy slogan. Across the width and breadth of America, working men and women were on the move. Following the Great Depression in which so many working class people suffered, workers vowed to gain what was rightfully theirs….economic security and social justice. Their struggles led to phases one and two of Roosevelt’s New Deal. Union protection, and Social Security were two of the New Deal’s safeguards. Job creation, health care, safe worksites, helping family farmers, and rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure were also part of that policy.
As one might expect, greedy employers opposed Roosevelt and the New Deal. They enlisted the support of on-the-take politicians who controlled cops and National Guardsmen…and mercenary thugs. In addition to the events that resulted in Bloody Thursday, battles for justice for all were being waged across our land. Workers were not deterred! Within a few years their dedication resulted in over 35% of America’s working class belonging to unions!
It is fitting that we commemorate labor’s heroines and heroes. At the same time it is important that we understand that their struggles and sacrifices were on behalf of all fellow workers. They gave of themselves so that future generations could live in security and peace.
There is no better way to honor those brave men and women than by re-kindling their spirit. Whether it be the elections in November, or advocating for programs designed to help all who labor, it is our responsibility to get involved in the struggle for social and economic justice and peace.
Senator Barack Obama has demonstrated his commitment to working class America.
His Republican opponent – like most Republican officeholders today – represent the same greedy employers who wreaked havoc on our forbearers.
This November help re-kindle the spirit of unity ad solidarity. Vote for those who care about America’s working class families. I, Me, and My-ism must give way to We-ism and unionism!
“An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!” “United We Stand, Divided We Crawl!” “Long Live The ILWU!”
Today’s labor movement must take to heart the kind of tactics used by the labor movement in the 1930’s. Some say that strikes, boycotts, and other militant actions are obsolete and ineffective… I say Bull…t!
Why else do bosses want us to give up our right to strike? Why else do healthcare bosses just love Andy Stern’s sell out policies and taking over of strong, militant union locals?
Sisters & brothers if we are to undo the damage done by Bush and Co., we must begin learning our labor history and the tactics used by our forerunners. Single payer healthcare and Employee Free Choice will not come about because the Congress has a good heart! Both will come about when we fill the streets demanding such! Que viva la causa!