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International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU),
Local 13 Records, Part II
URB.ILWU-II
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU), Local 13 Records,
Part II
Creator:
International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, Local 13
(Wilmington, Los Angeles, Calif.)
Identifier/Call Number: URB.ILWU-II
Extent:
24.53 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1933-1989
Abstract: The International Longshore and
Warehouse Union (ILWU) primarily represents dock workers on the West Coast of the United
States. The union was established in 1937 and the Los Angeles Chapter, Local 13, was
established shortly thereafter. The collection documents the establishment and development
of the local as well as many of the goals and achievements of unionism on the Pacific Coast.
Topics of interest include labor/management relations, labor conditions on the waterfront,
the sudden effects of mechanization on the longshore labor force, and the day-to-day
administration of this longshore union.
Language of Material: English
In 1892, members of the longshore union met in Detroit, Michigan to christen their
organization as the National Longshoremen's Association of the United States. The new union
quickly became an official arm of the trade unionist movement by joining with the American
Federation of Labor (AFL). With successful expansion into ports on the east and west coasts,
including several Canadian ports by 1895, the union changed its name to the International
Longshoremen's Association (ILA).
By the end of 1933, West Coast longshoremen voted to suspend local ILA president Lee
Holman rather than accept a conservative contract largely supported by the East Coast
membership. This was a major setback for ILA president Joe Ryan. Thus, the 1934 West Coast
Longshore Strike began.
Union solidarity and commitment to coast-wide bargaining gained during the early days of
the 1934 West Coast Strike and the support shown through the San Francisco General Strike
gave longshoremen the confidence they needed to turn down the settlement agreed to by Joe
Ryan, President of the ILA, and continue the strike. Except for San Pedro longshoremen,
whose conservative leadership convinced its membership to abide by the agreement, the rest
of the West Coast locals voted in favor of continuing their violent struggle for recognition
and a coast wide agreement more favorable to dockworkers.
The 1934, West Coast Strike was the first truly successful attempt by the ILA to gain
control of the waterfront. It was also the beginning of the end for the conservative faction
within the International to maintain control of the West Coast longshoremen. On October 12,
1934 a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) arbitration ruling awarded the longshoremen
increases in base rates of pay, provisions for penalty cargo rates, the establishment of the
thirty-hour work week, and, most important, joint operation of the hiring hall whereby
dispatchers would be selected by the ILA.
In the coming years, numerous setbacks coupled with the lack of International support for
the 1936 West Coast 98-day maritime strike led many of the West Coast locals to form an
independent "Waterfront Federation." The final break from the ILA came in May during the
1937 Annual Convention of the ILA's Pacific Coast District, when three resolutions were
passed by the membership to leave the AFL to join the newly established Committee of
Industrial Organizations (later known as the CIO).
In August 1937, the CIO issued a new charter to the "International Longshoremen's and
Warehousemen's Union" (ILWU). Then, in June 1938, the National Labor Relations Board voted
in favor of the ILWU as the recognized bargaining agent for the entire Pacific Coast. The
ILWU has remained separate from the ILA since these early jurisdictional, political and
organizational disputes. In 1950, the ILWU would again face political turmoil with a growing
conservatism within the CIO. The longshoremen of the West Coast, along with ten other
"left-wing" unions were expelled from the CIO during the early years of the Cold War. The
fact that the ILWU was the only union to survive this drastic measure by the national
organization attests to the solidarity of its leadership and membership and their continued
commitment to union activism.
The
International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU),
Local 13 Records, Part II
documents the establishment, development, goals, and
achievements of unionism on the Pacific Coast through agreements, arbitration awards,
bulletins, convention proceedings, committee records, contracts, correspondence, legal
documents, working papers and audio-tapes. The records describe in detail labor/management
relations, labor conditions on the waterfront, the sudden effects of mechanization on the
longshore labor force, and the day-to-day administration of this longshore union. The
collection is organized in three parts, of which this is Part II. Part II has been divided
into ten major series:
Executive Board and Regular Meetings, Local
13
(1934-1948, 1958-1978),
Committee and Council Records
(1933-1989),
Arbitration Awards (1934-1986),
Longshore, Ship Clerks, and Walking Bosses Caucus (1960-1981),
Subject Files (1935-1985),
General Correspondence
Files
(1941-1986),
ILWU Contract
Agreements
(1938-1987),
ILWU Legal
Case Files
(1940-1977),
ILWU
Bulletins and Newsletters
(1956-1985), and
Non-Manuscript Material.
Series I,
Executive Board and Regular Meetings, Local 13,
continues the series of the same name in Part I, and as such consists predominately of
minutes for meetings of the Executive Board and Regular Meetings of the membership at Local
13 Union Hall, Wilmington. Also included in the minutes are table of contents (indexes) for
meetings of the Executive Board for the period 1943-1948 and attendance rosters for the
period 1958-1975. The files also contain minutes of Stop Work Meetings of Local 13's
membership. The minutes are arranged in chronological order. Audio recordings of meetings of
regular membership (1958-1977), stop work meetings (1959-1977), the "Unemployed 500"
(February 1966), the Stewards Council (December 1959), Trial Committee hearings of Jack
Riley and M. Gutierrez (January 1965) and several other ILWU events are recorded on three
hundred and five (305), seven inch (7") reel-to-reel tapes. The tapes are arranged in
chronological order, with a small section of tapes filed alphabetically and are stored
separately.
Series II,
Committee and Council Records, contains attendance
records, correspondence, membership lists, minutes, notes, reports and working papers for
the many committees created to administrative run ILWU activities. Continuations of
committee records found in Part I are included in this series. The files for the three Labor
Relations committees (Area, Coast and Joint) are filed alphabetically, rather than together
as seen in Part I. Labor relations files for the period 1970-1978 were included in the
papers of Rudy Rubio. Additional material found in Part II for the Membership Committee does
not include minutes. Committee assignments that did not appear in Part I include: Accident
Prevention Committee, Longshoremen's Memorial Association Committee, Negotiation Committee -
National Lines Bureau, Inc., Picket Committee, Safety Committee and Strike Committee.
Materials are filed alphabetically by committee name.
Series III,
Arbitration Awards, continues the arbitration
hearings found in Part I and continues the documentation of union and employer complaints,
conflicts and labor issues. Arbitration documents are divided into three subseries.
Arbitration Procedures (1959-1977), contains arbitration procedures
and one notebook of LRC cases filed chronologically.
Section XI(g)
Awards
(1939) contains one file folder for 1939 awards relating to Section XI(g) of
the labor agreement.
Related Documents (1934-1986) contains
arbitration rulings, correspondence, notes and related case documents for individual awards.
These files are arranged alphabetically by subject.
Series IV,
Longshore, Ship Clerks, and Walking Bosses Caucus,
continues the series of the same name in Part I and as such documents the caucus proceedings
for the bi-annual meetings of the LSCWBC. There are volumes missing as was the case in Part
I. This series has been further divided into two subseries:
Proceedings (1965-1967), filed in chronological order; and
Lou
Loveridge Files
(1960-1981), consisting of memoranda, notes, proposals, reports,
resolutions, remarks of union leaders and summarized minutes. Loveridge wrote many marginal
notes during caucus meetings. The files are arranged in chronological order.
Series V,
Subject Files, include the files of Lou Loveridge,
Rudy Rubio and Tony Salcido, all former officers of ILWU, Local 13. The records include
constitutional amendments, convention packets, correspondence, clippings, publications,
policy statements, proposals, reports, working papers and related documents covering a wide
variety of topics. Of particular significance are convention packets and working papers of
Lou Loveridge for the biennial convention of the ILWU for the period 1965-1971, the meeting
minutes of the International Executive Board for the period 1974-1980, the Pacific Maritime
Association (PMA) Bulletin 1983-1985 and the correspondence files of striking union locals.
The series also contains a twenty-five percent (25%) sampling of conditional penalty
reports, employer complaints, jurisdictional dispute report, union complaints and visitor
registration slips. Materials are filed alphabetically.
Series VI,
General Correspondence Files, contains those early
administrative correspondence files saved by ILWU, Local 13. The files are arranged in
chronological order.
Series VII,
ILWU Contract Agreements, contains agreements,
correspondence, notes and working papers which document contract negotiations between the
ILWU and the many waterfront employers hiring longshoremen and warehousemen. Of particular
significance are the agreements with Crescent Warehouse Company, Ltd.; Koppel Bulk Terminal;
M.G.R.S. Corporation, Catalina and the National Lines Bureau, Inc. The series also contains
the basic West Coast agreements with the Pacific Maritime Association (formerly the
Waterfront Employers Association) and the general commercial warehouse, gearmen and sweepers
agreements. The files are arranged in alphabetical order.
Series VIII,
ILWU Legal Case Files, contains cases brought
before the District Court, Superior Court and Court of Appeals; the National Labor Relations
Board and the District Court for the District of Hawaii. The series includes incomplete
legal files of correspondence, documents filed in court and court notices. Of particular
importance for ILWU organizing activities in Hawaii (Local 36) is the 1949 case brought
before the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii against President of the
Senate Wilfred C. Tsukiyama, et al. There is also a small file of documents for the Harry
Bridges case. Other unions represented among the legal papers include the Seafarers
International Union of North America, the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and
Marine Cooks and Stewards, AFL. The cases are arranged in alphabetical order.
Series IX,
ILWU Bulletins and Newsletters, contains the ILWU,
Local 13
Bulletin for the period 1967-1985. Of particular
importance are the Strike Bulletins put out during the 1971-1972 strike. Members of Local 13
also published alternative newsletters such as John Pandora's
One
Member's Opinion
and
The Quorum during the 1970s and
1980s. Several other ILWU publications represented in this small series include caucus,
contract and election bulletins and releases,
Area Strike
Bulletin
(1971-1972) published by the ILWU Area Publicity Committee, the
International's
One Member's Opinion also published by John
Pandora (1976-1982) and several issues of the newsletter published by the Marine Clerks
Association during the 1971 strike. The files are arranged in alphabetical order by title or
local.
Series X,
Non-Manuscript Material includes audio recordings,
memorabilia, photographs, wooden plaques presented to ILWU, Local 13, and other similar
items, including several hundred index cards listing strikebreakers, company goons and other
known anti-union figures.
Series I: Executive Board and Regular Meetings, Local 13, 1933-1972
Series II: Committee and Council Records, 1934-1971
Series III: Arbitration Awards, 1934-1959
Subseries A: Arbitration Procedures, 1959-1977
Subseries B: Section XI(g) Awards, 1939
Subseries C: Related Documents, 1934-1986
Series IV: Longshore, Ship Clerks, and Walking Bosses Caucus, 1959-1965
Subseries A: Proceedings, 1965-1967
Subseries B: Lou Loveridge Files, 1960-1981
Series V: Subject Files, 1942-1965
Series VI: General Correspondence Files, 1941-1986
Series VII: ILWU Contract Agreements, 1938-1987
Series VIII: ILWU Legal Case Files, 1940-1977
Series IX: ILWU Bulletins and Newsletters, 1956-1985
Series X: Non-Manuscript Material
Related Material
The collection is open for research use.
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, Local 13, 1989.
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual,
or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Robert G. Marshall, 1990
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Audiovisual materials
Ephemera
Documents
Photographs