Are we revisiting 1934, back before the dispatch hall, when longshore labor was hired through favoritism and individual deals, when some had work and others had none? Are we headed back to the time of the shape up, with the way employers are luring steady workers with enticements and leaving fewer jobs for those working out of the hall?
Back before there was an ILWU, longshore work was not considered by most people to be a desirable job. You hauled heavy cargo in and out of a ship’s hold on your back at a fast pace until the ship was finished. If you couldn’t keep up, there was always someone ready to replace you. If you collapsed from exhaustion, you were fired. If you got hurt, that was your problem. And to add insult to injury, you had to beg or bribe the foreman for a chance at that. Longshore work was demanding of the body and demeaning of the soul.
That’s why when West Coast longshoremen went out in the great maritime strike of 1934, they didn’t just demand union recognition and higher wages. They demanded a union-run dispatch hall and a six-hour day to bring dignity and equality to getting a job. The dispatch hall would end the employers’ favoritism and control by ending the system that pitted workers against each other. The six-hour day would help guarantee there was enough work to share.
The longshoremen of 1934 stayed out on strike for three months, withstood being beaten, shot and killed, for that vision of solidarity. We still commemorate the bloody birth of our union every July 5, Bloody Thursday. All West Coast ports close that day. No cargo is moved in solemn remembrance of that sacrifice that went on to build the proud and strong ILWU.
We are so privileged to be able to share in the bounty those before us gave so much to gain. And sharing is exactly what they fought for, for the right to share the work opportunities and the wealth among all our longshore brothers and sisters.
Ever since 1934 the dispatch hall has been the center of ILWU solidarity and strength. It is where we meet, socialize and share our community. That’s why the employers are against it. That’s why they have been attacking the dispatch hall as "obsolete" since 1936. They tried to eliminate it from the contract in 1936 and 1938. They tried to legally abolish it in 1948. Failing that, they have tried to dismantle it piece-by-piece ever since the Mechanization and Modernization Agreement. They have always been clear in their minds and actions that the dispatch hall is the greatest challenge to their power.
The only thing that has changed over time is how they go about attacking the dispatch hall, how they try to weaken our solidarity. In recent years the employers have moved to over use the provision in the longshore contract allowing them to employ steady workers, those who report to the same terminal every day without going to the hall to get their job. But the contract sets restrictions on how many hours and shifts steadies can work in a week and on the compensation they can receive. The employers are purposefully violating that. They have been giving some of their steadies extra hours and shifts and slipping them bonuses and gratuities.
These practices undermine the dispatch hall, taking job opportunities away from those who work out of the hall. They undermine the very solidarity that makes the ILWU strong and able to protect its members.
The employers are always finding new ways to undermine our contract and our solidarity. As they go about implementing new technology on the docks in accordance with the 2002 contract, they are using the technology not just to send our work to other, non-union workers. They are also using it to set us against each other by overlapping and blurring the distinctions among the jobs of longshore workers, marine clerks and walking bosses.
They put computers in longshore equipment intent on replacing the work clerks do, overlapping and shifting responsibility to the equipment operator and often creating an unsafe situation. They are also using new technology to confuse the work of flowing the cargo by hatch clerks and foremen under the hook.
As we look at the subterfuge and how the employers are using technology to outsource our jobs, we must also see how they are trying to use technology to set us against each other. We cannot let them choose one section of our union over another.
Instead we have to reinforce each others’ contracts and jurisdictions. As it is, technology will make some jobs we do disappear. But that makes it all the more important to protect the ones that remain and to make sure we equalize work opportunities.
We must not allow ourselves to become pawns in the employers’ quest to disenfranchise our great union. The ILWU stands on principles that support equal work opportunity and social justice for all. The employers see the success of our industry and use not force, but 21st century strategy to frustrate us and pit worker against worker.
Harry Bridges, our great founder, always said we must never find ourselves in a position where special interests groups are formed in our union and are recognized by the employers. Our rank and file has an obligation to steer clear of enticements and gratuities offered them. We must continue to abide by the contract and union by-laws that have preserved the dispatch system we live by.
We have the greatest work force in the world. Whether we are workers out of the hall, steady or preferred, our obligation is to move cargo and meet the needs of our industry. In doing this task we must recognize that every job plays an important role and requires skills to accommodate the industry’s needs. The hall worker must never be considered second-class.
The success of past and future contract negotiations relies on the strength of our hiring system. Skill work must be available to ensure hall men and women that work in our industry and equal earning capacity.
The 2008 negotiations are only two years away from starting. Focusing on problems that weaken our dispatch system must be recognized as one of our top priorities.
It is time, in my opinion, that a work guarantee equal to those who work under a steady guarantee be made available to hall workers. Rank and filers must come together in solidarity and remember our slogan: "An injury to one is an injury to all."
