San Francisco

The Big Strike of 1934 was nearly two months old when cops gunned down two strikers on the streets of San Francisco on July 5th.   On that day, forever known as “Bloody Thursday,” 800 cops backed by the National Guard tried to open the port.

The battle raged on for most of the morning.  Workers gathered quietly in front of the union hall on Steuart Street for lunch.  Then cops pulled up and fired into the crowd.  Longshoreman Howard Sperry was hit in the back.  Nick Bordoise, a union cook, went down; both men died.  At least 32 people were wounded by gunfire that day—none of them were cops.  Police seriously injured 75 others in beatings.

Maritime workers had struck the ports up and down the West Coast on May 9, demanding a union-run hiring hall, a Coastwise contract, a six-hour day and a pay increase.  In San Francisco, 40,000 workers joined the murdered men’s funeral procession as it marched silently down Market Street. The whole city closed down in a general strike and the port remained closed until the workers won their demands.

Charles Olsen also took a bullet with Sperry, but he survived. Workers placed flowers on the sidewalk where they fell, but the cops kicked them away.

Longshore workers permanently painted outlines of the Olsen and Speery’s bodies on the sidewalk in front of the Local 10 hall in San Francisco where nearly 400 people gathered seventy-three years later on this Bloody Thursday to remember them. “Indian Joe” Morris blew “Taps” and segued into “Amazing Grace” to start the program. George Cobbs, Vice President of the Bay Area Pensioners, spoke to the crowd.

“There’s a motto,” he said: “that those who forget are condemned to repeat. You don’t want to be like these two guys lying down here,” as he pointed to the silhouettes on the sidewalk.  “Those men gave their lives for what they believed.  It’s wonderful to think of the benefits, the conditions we have today, but somebody had to pay.  You don’t get this life for free.

Local 10 President Tommy Clark added, “On this Thursday we are not only here to remember our fallen brothers who were killed in 1934.  We are also here to celebrate and honor the extraordinary life of an honorary member of Local 10, Sam Kagel. No words spoken today can compare to the greatness of Sam Kagel and what he stood for in the ILWU.”

Local 10’s John Castanho presented a plaque to Jeanne Kagel, honoring her husband Sam.  “We thank you and your family for all the efforts and contributions you gave to our union and the maritime industry,” Castanho said.

Retiree Cleophas Williams, the first African-American president of Local 10, spoke on the difficulties that Black people had in the union.

“Struggle is the name of the game here,” he said.  “Things didn’t come just because you were good looking.  Things came because people had the guts to do what had to be done.  You said what had to be said.  And some times you sang the songs people didn’t want to be sung.  Have courage, brothers and sisters, if you want to keep this union going.”

Los Angeles dockers gave the first blood in the 1934 strike. Scabs worked while workers went hungry. Late in the night May 14, some 300 workers marched on the scab pen on the docks. Shots rang out from the scabs and cops, and when the air cleared, two strikers lay mortally wounded. Dickie Parker died in the arms of his union brothers and John Knudsen died later of his wounds. Outraged workers chased out the scabs.
                                                                                                                                                   —Tom Price

San Pedro—

ILWU families gathered at San Pedro’s Peck Park for a picnic that included speeches by ILWU leaders and local politicians, music, entertainment and food provided by Locals 13, 63 and 94. ILWU officers and retirees spoke to television, radio and print journalists, including Fox News, ABC-7, KFWB Newsradio, KPFK and the Torrance Daily Breeze.

Portland—

Members and families of Clerks’ Local 40 and Longshore Local 8 attended a memorial and picnic on July 5th  in Oaks Park.  A group of Local 8 longshoremen led by Marvin Ricks, placed a large floral wreath in the Willamette River. Ricks is a retired Local 8 member who is the last surviving longshoreman in Portland from the Great Strike of 1934. 

As the wreath was laid to rest in the water, the grandson of Joe O’Neill, a retired Local 8 member, played taps.  Afterwards, Bill Wyatt, Director of the Port of Portland, Senate Majority Leader Dave Hunt of the Oregon Legislature, and Tom Chamberlain, President of the Oregon AFL-CIO, spoke to the many union members and their families present.  ILWU Coast Committeeman Leal Sundet and International Secretary-Treasurer William Adams also attended the commemoration.

Back in 1934, the workers in Portland faced police who fired bullets into their picket lines, but the workers stood firm.  The cops were so out of control that they fired on Senator Wagner’s (D-NY) car, the same senator who would push the National Labor Relations Act through Congress a year later.  President Roosevelt signed that “Bill of Rights for Labor” on the first anniversary of Bloody on Thursday, July 5, 1935.

Seattle—

Over 1,400 people turned out to remember their fallen brothers and sisters at Local 19’s Bloody Thursday commemoration in Vasa Park at Lake Sammanish in Seattle. 

Besides a generous picnic, there was a blessing and memorial prayer for the six longshoremen who are honored on Bloody Thursday, and for those who have passed since July 5, 2006.  Teresa Bowman, the wife of Butch Bowman who died in a tragic motorcycle accident recently, was among the relatives of the deceased who attended.  As several bands played, members and their families lined up to play baseball and douse Local 19 President Herald Ugles who took his soaking in a “dunk tank.”

In 1934, Seattle maritime workers fought with scabs almost daily for more than a month.  Late in the night of June 30, strike delegate Shelvy Daffron was gunned down.  Nineteen days later, striking sailor Olaf Helland was hit in the head and killed by a gas grenade.

Dutch Harbor, Alaska—

Alaska Longshore Division Unit 223 in Dutch Harbor held their first Bloody Thursday event this year.
 
The Unit invited all waterfront workers to a barbeque at Kelty Field to commemorate the history of the ILWU and welcome their newly-organized members:  APL and Horizon security guards and Delta Western fuelers. 

About 150 people attended, including IBU members from the Harbormaster’s Office. In addition to the food, there were special events for the many kids including buoy riding, sack races, and a piñata.

International Executive Board member Pete Hendrickson described the history of Bloody Thursday and the ILWU, and called for an annual Bloody Thursday event.

—Jan Gilbrecht,
International Organizer