Know Your Labor History, July 5, 1934: San Francisco police fire at striking longshore workers

[alp227]

The San Francisco Chronicle had this article on Saturday looking back at a critical moment in San Francisco labor history:

On July 5, 1934, striking workers and police clashed in a series of riots that swept the waterfront from Rincon Hill to the Ferry Building. Two men were killed by police and more than 100 were injured.

The governor called in the National Guard, the unions called a general strike that paralyzed the city.

"There were tanks patrolling the Embarcadero and machine gun nests. It had the look of a European-style revolution," said historian Kevin Starr.

At the time, The Chronicle called that July 5 "the darkest day in San Francisco since the 1906 earthquake." The unions called it "Bloody Thursday."

Why did those workers strike?

In the early 1930s, San Francisco was the top port on the Pacific Coast; 1 in 4 jobs in the city was connected to the port - dock workers, sailors, marine engineers, truckers, warehouse workers. It was the economic engine that drove the city.

But it was a tough place to work. The jobs were dangerous and the pay was low. The employers, who were closely allied with the city government and the police, had succeeded over the years in crushing the unions.

By 1934, longshore workers could not get jobs unless they belonged to a company union, and even then could not work unless they were picked in a daily "shape up" in front of the Ferry Building.

Here supervisors, the so-called "walking bosses," chose men they wanted out of a crowd. There were side deals and bribes.

The setup was challenged by the International Longshore Union, led by an Australian former sailor named Harry Bridges. A strike was called in early May, and it touched off what author William Martin Camp called "the most violent days San Francisco ever endured."

And then...

On July 3, employers tried to ship cargo by truck from a warehouse near where the baseball park now stands. There was a riot.

After a break for the Independence Day holiday, the employers tried again, this time around Piers 30-32. Pickets resisted, the police moved in with shotguns and tear gas. The strikers threw rocks and bricks...

Finally, in the afternoon of July 5, police fired on strikers at the corner of Steuart and Mission streets. Howard Sperry, a sailor, and Nick Bordoise, an unemployed cook, were shot and died on the sidewalk...

That was followed by a four-day general strike, and a settlement that was generally seen as a victory for the unions.

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, alp.

[Brother Buzz]

2. There were also mobile National Guardsmen machine guns

More photographs of that horrible month here:

http://sflib1.sfpl.org:82/search~S0?/dStrikes+--+1934./dstrikes+1934/-3,-1,0,E/2browse

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. These two little sentences can serve as a microcosm for.... well, EVERYTHING:

>>>Here supervisors, the so-called "walking bosses," chose men they wanted out of a crowd. There were side deals and bribes. >>>>>>

[gratuitous]

4. Keep Black Thursday in mind when you see today's strikers

The men and women striking outside Wal-Mart and McDonald's are the modern heirs of the brave men of 1934 San Francisco. Their victories have been rolled back pretty good in the last 80 years, but the battles can be fought again, and the victories won again.

[Omaha Steve]

5. They are currently working without a contract

K&R!

West Coast ports stay open as contract talks with longshoremen continue

http://www.furnituretoday.com/article/489495-west-coast-ports-stay-open-contract-talks-longshoremen-continue

July 1, 2014

SAN FRANCISCO — Contract talks between terminal operators and unionized dockworkers continued here as today’s 5 p.m. contract expiration approached, and it appears the two sides will continue negotiating past the deadline and keep West Coast ports open.

Various media reports indicated a work stoppage is not imminent, but furniture importers are keeping a wary eye on the situation and noted that the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., already are heavily congested because shippers have been bringing in more cargo than normal as the contract deadline approached.

“Most importers were trying to get as much cargo to their distribution centers as possible, and it will take some time to unload that surge of cargo and return containers, and more importantly, the chassis to the ports,” said Robert Buford, logistics manager at Home Meridian.

Bill Smith, vice president of global marketing at logistics provider Globe Express Services, said he is optimistic talks will continue into July without a work stoppage, and agreed that the port congestion issues are not likely to be resolved soon.

FULL story at link.