Today in Labor History August 1, 1938: Police opened fire on 200 unarmed trade unionists protesting the unloading of a ship in Hilo Harbor, on the Big Island of Hawaii, in what became known as "the Hilo Massacre." The protest was in support of striking waterfront workers. 50 workers were injured. Police also used tear gas and bayonets. The workers came from numerous ethnic backgrounds, including Japanese, Chinese, Native Hawaiian, Luso (Portuguese) and Filipino. They belonged to several unions, including the ILWU. They were fighting for equal pay to dockers on the U.S. west coast and for a closed, union shop. Harry Kamoku (depicted in the original woodblock poster shown in this post) was the primary organizer and leader of the strike, as well as a member of Hawaii’s first union to be legally recognized. He was a Chinese-Hawaiian, a longshoreman, born in Hilo.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #union #strike #hilo #hawaii #police #massacre #ilwu

The San Francisco General Strike began on July 16, 1934 in response to the police murders of two longshoremen, Howard Sperry and Nick Bourdoise, July 5, 1934, on Rincon Hill, near the Ferry Building, during the West Coast Maritime Strike.

This sidewalk mural commemorates these events. It is located in front of the ILWU Hall, near Fishermens Wharf.

I remember taking my son to Pier 39 once when he was about six or seven, to play games at the arcade there. On our way back to the car, we passed this mural. He was intrigued. As I was explaining it to him, describing the history, a young longshoreman came out and asked if we'd like to come inside, see the other murals and statues. He gave us the full tour, explaining everything, and my son was completely mesmerized, as was I.

#sanfrancisco #GeneralStrike #ilwu

Today in Labor History July 5, 1934: Two strikers were shot and killed and more than 100 were injured by San Francisco police in what came to be known as "Bloody Thursday," leading to one of the last General Strikes in U.S. history. The West Coast maritime strike lasted 84 days and spread from San Pedro, in Los Angeles Country up to Puget Sound, in Washington. One of the strike leaders in San Francisco was Harry Bridges, a former member of the IWW who had immigrated from Australia. Teamsters supported the strike by refusing to handle “hot” cargo that had been unloaded by scabs. 7-9 workers, in total, were killed during these strikes (in San Pedro, Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco); over 1000 were injured; and over 500 were arrested. In San Francisco, the National Guard, along with vigilantes, patrolled the streets with armored vehicles with machine guns mounted on them.

I used to have a neighbor who was a lifelong member of the typographical union. A really big guy named Herb, who told me that his most vivid memory of the strike was that the streets had become white from all the milk being dumped by dairy delivery drivers, in solidarity with the striking maritime workers.

The ILWU Mural General Strike Sculpture/Mural was created in 1984-86 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1934 SF General Strike. The artists were Miranda Bergman, Tina Dresher, Nicole Emanuel, Lari Kilolani, James Morgan, Ray Patlán, Eduardo Pineda, James Prigoff, O'Brien Thiele, Horace Washington. The artwork now stands at the corner of Mission and Steuart Streets, in the old Rincon Hill neighborhood, the epicenter of the 1934 San Francisco Waterfront Strike and Bloody Thursday. This photo of the artwork was taken by James Prigoff, and can be found in the Found SF project: https://www.foundsf.org/Artist!_Mike_Mosher

I’ve included a close-up of the artwork in its current home, at Mission and Steuart Streets, along with a commemorative plaque (both photos by me). The plaque reads:

“In memory of Howard Sperry and Nick Bordoise, who gave their lives on Bloody Thursday, July 5, 1934, so that all working people might enjoy a greater measure of dignity and security.

Sperry and Bordoise were fatally shot by San Francisco police at the intersection of Mission and Steuart Streets, when longshoremen and seamen attempted to stop maritime employers from breaking their joint strike. Community outrage at these killings sparked a General Strike by all San Francisco unions.

The maritime strike continued through the middle of the summer, concluding with a union victory which brought decent conditions to the shipping industry and set the stage for the rebirth of a strong and democratic labor movement on the west cost.

An Injury to One is an Injury to all.”

#workingclass #LaborHistory #sanfrancisco #GeneralStrike #BloodyThursday #IWW #longshoremen #ilwu #police #PoliceBrutality #HarryBridges #maritime #nationalguard #Teamsters #solidarity #mural

1997 Mural of the 1934 SF General Strike, by Chuck Sperry, inside the Redstone Building, at 2926-48 16th St, in San Francisco’s Mission District. The mural depicts workers talking and reading, with a zoomed-in bubble showing the two longshoremen (Nick Bordoise and Howard Sperry) killed in the strike, lying on the pavement in a pool of blood.

The Redstone Building is also known as the Labor Temple. It has been home to numerous lefty activist organizations, including an IWW office and the now defunct pirate radio station, Radio X. The building was a center of San Francisco labor organizing for decades. In 1916, there were 54 different labor organizations based there.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #SanFrancisco #LaborTemple #redstonebuilding #ilwu #GeneralStrike #IWW #pirateradio

Today in Labor History July 5, 1934: Two strikers were shot and killed and more than 100 were injured by San Francisco police in what came to be known as "Bloody Thursday," leading to one of the last General Strikes in U.S. history. The governor called in the National Guard to suppress the strike by the International Longshoremen’s & Warehousemen’s Union (ILWU). Police and Guard violence led to 43 injuries due to clubbing and gas, and 30 more for bullet wounds. Two chemical companies used the unrest as an opportunity to test and sell their wares. Joseph Roush, from Federal Laboratories, shot a long-range tear gas shell at the strikers. He then told his company, "I might mention that during one of the riots, I shot a long-range projectile into a group, a shell hitting one man and causing a fracture of the skull, from which he has since died. As he was a Communist, I have had no feeling in the matter and I am sorry that I did not get more."

Mike Quinn wrote about the strike in his 1949 book, “The Big Strike.” Quinn was a working-class journalist and novelist. He was an active member of the Communist Party and a writer for the ILWU.

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #GeneralStrike #SanFrancisco #longshoremen #BloodyThursday #ilwu #riots #communism #massacre #police #PoliceBrutality #acab #writer #author #fiction #novel @bookstadon

Today in Labor History April 24, 1999: The International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union shut down all West Coast shipping in solidarity with Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was wrongfully imprisoned and held on death row for the murder of a cop—a crime he did not commit.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #MumiaAbuJamal #prison #journalism #FreeSpeech #police #union #solidarity #ilwu #blackpanthers #BlackMastadon

Hey- #uaw #nea #seiu #afscme #Teamsters #ufcw #usw #aft #ibew #liuna #iamaw #cwa #ubcja #ilwu #iuoe #ua #nalc #afge #apwu #iaff #UniteHere #npmhu #atu #anu #iatse #iasmartw #iupat #iabsoriw #twua #opeiu #nrlcu you watching this? https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:twjze4qqf6fgxz33ct52wlnl/post/3lk2lofqgoc2i

ILWU Apartheid South Africa Boycott https://jacobin.com/2024/11/ilwu-apartheid-south-africa-boycott

#apartheid #boycott #labormovement
#ILWU #dockworkers #organize #workingclasshistory #Waterfrontworkers #solidarity

My old #union on the waterfront, #ILWU, always had a radical streak (it was founded by communists). As late as 1984 on #ThisDayInHistory, they were willing to forgo pay by refusing to unload cargo from #apartheid #SouthAfrica. A federal court forced them to do it or face prison.

#Diversions are a key issue for the #ILA, w/the #union's president, #HaroldDaggett, threatening that the #longshoremen would travel to ports where diverted vessels attempt to unload their freight. Daggett has mentioned the #ILWU allowing ILA members to go to the port in the 1977 #strike to stop the unloading of a diverted vessel. Daggett was one of those longshoremen at that time who traveled to the #WestCoast.

#economy #VoteBlue #HarrisWalz2024
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/03/ports-strike-chaos-costs-starting-to-rise.html

@sunguramy

Been a while since 1977 ILA strike and #labormovement #solidarity from #ILWU and other unions.
https://ilaunion.org/

Illustration “same as it ever was” Capitalist turns workers labour via meat grinder of wage-system into profits.

https://jacobin.com/2024/08/ilwu-racism-dockworkers-san-francisco

May 1st 2008
https://inthesetimes.com/article/ilwu-war-iraq-afghanistan-work-stoppage-dockworkers-apartheid-may-day

#dockworkers #warehouseworkers #organize #ILWU #union #SanFrancisco

Today in Labor History August 1, 1938: Police opened fire on 200 unarmed trade unionists protesting the unloading of a ship in Hilo Harbor, on the Big Island of Hawaii, in what became known as "the Hilo Massacre." The protest was in support of striking waterfront workers. 50 workers were injured. Police also used tear gas and bayonets. The workers came from numerous ethnic backgrounds, including Japanese, Chinese, Native Hawaiian, Luso (Portuguese) and Filipino. They belonged to several unions, including the ILWU. They were fighting for equal pay to dockers on the U.S. west coast and for a closed, union shop. Harry Kamoku (depicted in the original woodblock poster shown in this post) was the primary organizer and leader of the strike, as well as a member of Hawaii’s first union to be legally recognized. He was a Chinese-Hawaiian, a longshoreman, born in Hilo.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #union #strike #hilo #hawaii #police #policebrutality #massacre #longshore #ilwu #harrykamoku

Today is the 90th anniversary of #BloodyThursday July 5th, 1934. A group of workers died as martyrs for an important cause: #AntiDiscrimination and #fairlaborpractices

This Labor movement is still happening today, the fight for #equity, #FairPayForAll, and other important worker's rights continues.

https://www.ilwu.org/remembering-bloody-thursday-july-5-1934-on-the-san-francisco-waterfront/

#solidarityforever #ilwu #unionstrong #afscmestrong #wekeepthelightson

(Thanks for the headsup)

#Oregon: Preschools close after teachers launch #unionization, no attempt to reassign #union supporters

https://www.portlandtribune.com/news/montessori-schools-in-portland-tigard-shutter-after-teachers-launch-union-effort/article_742512b6-0714-11ef-92a9-c7003648fd0e.html

#unions #Tigard #Guidepost #ILWU #HigherGroundEducation #AngelIgnacio #capitalism #Privatization #Neoliberalism #exploitation #ClassWar

ULWU local 10 forced the closure of the Port of Oakland yesterday, and voted to refuse to handle all Israeli cargo. Plans to ask the international to do the same.

#israel #solidarity #workingclass #freepalestine #EndTheOccupation #ilwu #oakland

Don’t Like War? Then Don’t Work! Remembering When Dockworkers Shut Down the Ports on #MayDay 2008

https://inthesetimes.com/article/ilwu-war-iraq-afghanistan-work-stoppage-dockworkers-apartheid-may-day

#dockworkers #union #ilwu

Today in Labor History April 24, 1999: The International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union shut down all West Coast shipping in solidarity with Mumia Abu-Jamal (Black Panther, journalist), who was wrongfully imprisoned and held on death row for the murder of a cop—a crime he did not commit.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #MumiaAbuJamal #prison #journalism #FreeSpeech #police #union #solidarity #ilwu #blackpanthers

Today in Labor History March 30, 1990: Harry Bridges died at age 88. He helped found the ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union) and led the union for 40 years. Bridges was born in Australia in 1901 and moved to the U.S. in 1920. He joined the IWW in 1921 and participated in an unsuccessful nationwide seamen’s strike. In 1922, he moved to San Francisco, to become a longshoreman. His militancy won him considerable support and he was soon elected a leader of the new longshoremen’s union. He helped lead the 1935 San Francisco General Strike. This was one of the last General Strikes to occur in the U.S. because the Taft-Hartley Act banned them in 1947 (in the wake of the 1945-1946 Strike Wave, with over 4.3 million U.S. workers going on strike, including General Strikes in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Stamford, Connecticut; Rochester, New York; and Oakland, California). One of Bridge’s most famous quotes was, “The most important word in the language of the working class is solidarity.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #HarryBridges #IWW #ilwu #generalstrike #sanfrancisco #waterfront #solidarity #TaftHartley #longshore

#ILWU #SanFrancisco Bay Local 10 was “one of a number of #unions expelled from the #CIO and the only #union that survived fully intact.”
In the 1930s, four members of the local were killed fighting fascism in Spain. The #union refused to load cargo for fascist #Italy in 1935 or imperialist #Japan between 1938 and 1940. In 1978, the union’s members refused to load bomb parts headed to Augusto Pinochet’s #Chile.

https://jacobin.com/2024/03/international-dockworker-solidarity-weapons-shipments

#antimilitarism #solidarity