Longshoremen strike all along the Pacific Coast on June 1, 1916.

  • By Greg Lange
  • Posted 5/09/1999
  • HistoryLink.org Essay 1109
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On June 1, 1916, 10,700 longshoremen from 12 U.S. West Coast ports strike for a 10 percent increase in wages. The longshoremen seek an increase because of a significant increase in productivity. Ports shut down are San Francisco (4,000 longshoremen), Portland (2,000), Seattle (2,000), Tacoma (900), Los Angeles (600), Oakland (600), San Diego (200), Astoria (200), Everett (50), Aberdeen (50), Bellingham (50), and Everett (50).

Strikebreakers Brought In

The strike was settled in the southern ports and a truce was made in Seattle and Tacoma when employers brought in African American strikebreakers. The strike flared up again after it was claimed that a nonunion African American worker murdered a longshoreman. Puget Sound longshoremen return to the picket lines on June 22, 1916.

This was a violent strike with destruction of property, calls for police protection, and many fights resulting in a few deaths. The strike was settled on October 4, 1916.

Sources: [Washington State] Bureau of Labor, Tenth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Factory Inspection 1915-1916 (Olympia: Frank M. Lamborn, Public Printer, 1916), 244-250.
Related Topics
Labor Maritime
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