1916 West Coast waterfront strike: Difference between revisions

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The 1916 West Coast Waterfront Strike was the first coast-wide strike of longshore workers on the Pacific Coast of the United States. The strike was a major defeat for the International Longshoremen's Association, and its membership declined significantly over the next decade. Employers won control over hiring halls and started a campaign to drive out the union's remaining presence.

The first longshore unions on the West Coast emerged in the late 19th century. In the early 20th century, the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) became the dominant union on the West Coast. The craft-unionist ILA came into competition with the Industrial Workers of the World. The IWW was especially strong in the logging and mining industries of the Pacific Northwest, and many of the workers from those industries would work seasonally on the waterfront.^[1]

On June 1, 1916, workers in all twelve West Coast ports went on strike to demand higher wages and an end to the open-shop system.^[1][2][3][4] A brief truce was established on June 9 but quickly collapsed after striking workers were killed in San Francisco and Seattle. The strike became more violent, with battles between strikers and police resulting in a few deaths and the destruction of property.^[2][3] Under pressure from a well-organized opposition by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, on July 17, the San Francisco local accepted an agreement and returned to work.^[2] The agreement was rejected in other ports, however, and the strike continued. The loss of coastwide unity caused the strike to crumble. The last striking locals in Puget Sound reached a settlement on October 4, 1916, and workers returned to work without winning their demand of a closed shop.^[3][4]

In San Francisco, on July 22, five days after an agreement was reached, the Preparedness Day Bombings were carried out at a pro-World War I parade organized by the Chamber of Commerce.

In Seattle, employers attempted to exploit racial animosities by bringing Black workers as strike breakers. Following the strike in 1917, the Seattle local reversed its segregationist policies and allowed Black workers to join the union. By the time of the Seattle General Strike in 1919, there were at least three hundred Black longshore workers.