Union remembers bloody day in 1934
By Justin Pritchard
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Ports along the West Coast fell silent Friday, though not because of labor unrest between dock workers and shipping lines that are wrangling over a new contract.
Associated Press
The day after celebrating the birth of the nation, longshoremen at major Pacific ports gathered to commemorate the birth of their union — and remember the police shootings of two men in the 1934 "Bloody Thursday" riot that forever changed the West Coast waterfront.
A color guard stands at attention at a port rally Friday in San Francisco to honor two people killed in a labor strike riot in 1934 known as "Bloody Thursday."
"The old timers gave their life for us to have the working condition we have today," said Henry Graham, a negotiator representing the San Francisco chapter of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
Because of the four-day weekend, negotiations won't resume until today on a contract covering ports from San Diego to Seattle that last year handled about $260 billion in cargo.
The contract expired July 1, but the union and shipping lines have agreed to several short-term extensions. The latest stretched the contract to today, though with pressure coming from as high as Congress and the Bush administration, both sides said they are committed to further renewals.
The negotiations are taking place in San Francisco, the home city of both the union and the group representing shipping lines, the Pacific Maritime Association.
The break for Friday's union gatherings gave negotiators a chance to digest recent proposals on benefits and how to equip ports with new technology that union officials worry will let shipping lines outsource their jobs.
The events also let the rank and file socialize.
"I think that this time, because of the struggle we're in, today means more," said union spokesman Steve Stallone.
Longshoremen in Seattle and Portland, Ore., held picnics at parks away from their hiring halls.
In San Francisco, the day was part pep rally and part oral history, with speeches reminding longshoremen of a very different time.
In 1934, longshoremen struck to protest corruption among their bosses and poor working conditions on the docks. That strike spiraled into the deadly July 5 riot that one newspaper account of the day called "a day never before duplicated in this city. The Embarcadero, San Francisco's name for its waterfront, ran blood."
The longshoremen's union has grown unusually strong even as organized labor has suffered nationally.
That strength comes in part because the 10,500 union members represent the work force at all 29 major ports on the West Coast. That leverage has won longshoremen salaries that average $80,000 annually for full-time work, with the most experienced foremen averaging $167,000.
Union leaders credit a militancy that grew from the ferment of 1934. Indeed, longshoremen here say "Bloody Thursday" is a living history.
