Because the International Longshore and Warehouse Union invests resources in a variety of projects to keep labor history alive, many ILWU members understand the struggles and sacrifices that built their union.
Longshore workers have memorialized July 5, Bloody Thursday, as an official holiday in their contract. Each longshore local organizes events each year ranging from picnics to full-blown mobilizations. “At our local, there’s much more interest and energy spent around Bloody Thursday than Labor Day,” says Harold Ugles, international executive board member from Local 19 in Seattle.
‘At our local, there’s much more interest and energy spent around Bloody Thursday than Labor Day.’
Members and leaders around the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, for example, spent nearly a year preparing for a march and rally that drew hundreds this year, to dedicate a new memorial to honor both the fallen strikers of 1934 and those who have died since while working on the waterfront.
Local 13 member Mike Piazza led a team of volunteers who published a 22-page booklet full of historical photos gathered from local archives and the union headquarters in San Francisco, which maintains a library and archive.