:: rawblogXport ::

:: Friday, September 10, 2004 ::

Dock jobs a haven for blue-collar workers By Eric Johnson, Long Beach Press-Telegram, CA
'The longshoremen have a very militant history,' says Kent Wong, director of the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education. 'They've fought long and hard for health and safety standards and higher wages.'

The roots of the longshore union on the West Coast stretch as far back as the 19th century, but those early unions loosely tied to the East Coast-based International Longshore Association disbanded often.

The current incarnation of the ILWU really took shape in 1934, when Harry Bridges (an Australian longshoreman working in San Francisco) led a drive to organize dockworkers against corrupt shipowners.

In 1934, wages hovered around $10 a week for dockworkers. Shifts could last 24 hours for the best and most efficient workers called 'star gangs.' Accidents were frequent.

It was in that atmosphere that Bridges emerged, leading a massive strike in the ports that garnered higher wages, health care, and, significantly, the right to run a union-controlled hiring hall.

The 1934 strike that spawned the ILWU, and ones in 1936, 1946 and 1948, empowered the union, giving them regular shifts, better wages and safer working conditions, said Victor Silverman, a labor historian at Pomona College.

'Before 1934, longshoring was really a terrible job,' said Silverman, likening it to the life of a migrant worker today. 'It was extremely dangerous, second only to mining really.'

posted 6:39 AM :: reference link :: 0 comments ::

-------------------------------------------