On July 31, 1934, West Coast longshoremen return to work after agreeing to an arbitrated settlement, thus ending one of the most important and bitter labor strikes of the twentieth century. The subsequent settlement results in a victory for the International Longshoremen's Association.
The struggle pitted the International Longshoremen's Association (reorganized as the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, ILWU, in 1937) against steamship owners, police, and hostile public officials. It also embroiled ILA leader Harry Bridges (1901-1990) and Teamsters Union head Dave Beck (1894-1993) in a long battle for control of the nation's waterfronts.
Both employers and the ILA tentatively agreed to submit to arbitration by a special panel appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945). The settlement, which came in October 1934, awarded the International Longshoremen's Association recognition, wage increases, and union control of the waterfront hiring halls.
Sources:
Walter Havighurst, Pier 17: A Novel About the 1916 Strike (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1935); Ronald E. Magden, A History of Seattle Waterfront Workers, 1884-1934 (Seattle: International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union Local 19 of Seattle, the Washington Commission for the Humanities, 1991); Ottilie Markholt, Maritime Solidarity: Pacific Coast Unionism, 1929-1938 (Tacoma, WA: Pearce County Central Labor Council, 1998); Emmett R. Murray, The Lexicon of Labor (New York: The New Press, 1998); Encyclopedia of the American Left ed. by Mari Jo Buhle et al. (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992); Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 9-July 31, 1934.
Licensing: This essay is licensed under a Creative Commons license that
encourages reproduction with attribution. Credit should be given to both
HistoryLink.org and to the author, and sources must be included with any
reproduction. Click the icon for more info. Please note that this
Creative Commons license applies to text only, and not to images. For
more information regarding individual photos or images, please contact
the source noted in the image credit.
Major Support for HistoryLink.org Provided
By:
The State of Washington | Patsy Bullitt Collins
| Paul G. Allen Family Foundation | Museum Of History & Industry
| 4Culture (King County Lodging Tax Revenue) | City of Seattle
| City of Bellevue | City of Tacoma | King County | The Peach
Foundation | Microsoft Corporation, Other Public and Private
Sponsors and Visitors Like You