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Salcido (Tony) International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 13 Collection
URB.ILWU-TS  
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  • Biographical Information:
  • Scope and Contents
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  • Conditions Governing Use:
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  • Contributing Institution: Special Collections & Archives
    Title: Tony Salcido International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU), Local 13 Collection
    Creator: Salcido, Tony, 1929-
    Identifier/Call Number: URB.ILWU-TS
    Physical Description: 17.41 linear feet
    Date (inclusive): 1919-1992
    Abstract: Tony Salcido was a longshoreman in Los Angeles for 42 years. He was an active member of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 13 throughout that time. The collection documents his long and significant career as a dock worker, union member and leader of the ILWU, Local 13. It consists of articles, booklets, correspondence, financial statements, manuals, minutes of meetings, reports and typescripts.
    Language of Material: English

    Biographical Information:

    Tony Salcido was born on May 20, 1929 in Wilmington, California. His parents, Cristobal "Chu-Chu" and Sofia Salcido, had a total of fourteen children of which he was the seventh.
    Salcido's father, Cristobal, was well known and respected on the waterfront. He was a member of the International Longshoremen's Association local in Los Angeles from its beginnings in 1934 until 1937, and a charter member of the ILWU, Local 13 from 1938, when the West Coast Union broke away from the ILA. Cristobal continued to be an active dockworker until 1956 when he retired. "Chu-Chu" Salcido was one of Local 13's legendary longshoremen and the head of a renowned family of ILWU activists. A lumber handler in the early days and a 1934 strike participant, Chu-Chu was known as a stalwart unionist.
    In June of 1947, Salcido joined the United States Army and served for a year and a half. He was discharged as a Staff Sergeant. At this time, Salcido's brother Mike was a dispatcher on the waterfront. When the need for more men presented itself he called Tony and offered him part time work on the docks. Salcido, disillusioned by his junior college basketball coach, decided to pursue extended casual work on the waterfront in Wilmington instead continuing his education.
    In August of 1949, Tony Salcido became a Casual Longshoreman (I.D. man). Salcido became a full union member upon being elevated to "A" registration status on December 5, 1951. By 1955, there were six Salcido brothers working as longshoremen: Mike, Cristy, Frankie, Victor, Ned, and Tony.
    Salcido's first five years on the waterfront were spent working in the ship holds, loading and unloading bulk cargo. Then he joined different ship "gangs" as a winch driver. In 1965, Salcido was selected as a "supplementary foreman." In 1966, he was selected by the Banning Stevedoring Co. to work steady for them rather than working out of the Dispatch Hall, which allowed him to transfer into ILWU, Local 94, the foreman's union. Salcido did not enjoy being foreman but the local's secretary and treasurer, Roy Brastead, talked him into remaining for a couple of years. By 1968, he had enough and returned to Local 13 and his position as a winch operator.
    In 1972, Salcido checked into the Supplementary Crane Board in the Dispatch Hall and began to learn how to drive cranes by asking drivers to show him how to operate the various models. In 1974, Salcido gained admission into the Crane Operators Training Program. Salcido primarily worked on the docks as a crane operator from 1975 until he retired in 1994.
    In 1973, Salcido got more involved in local and international affairs. That year, he ran and was elected to the ILWU, Local 13's Executive Board. In 1974, Salcido ran and was elected as a Caucus and Convention delegate and ran for both positions every year until 1991 when he "…decided to let the new breed [of longshoremen] run their own business." Salcido was also elected to various committees throughout his career including positions on the District Council, Chairman of the Stewards Council and the Registration Advisory Committee.
    Salcido ran against Joaquin Hernandez for Secretary and Treasurer in 1977 and was elected to the post for a one-year term. He chose not to run again in 1978 due to the amount of time the position demanded. In notes provided by Salcido for this finding aid, he reflects, "The reason I ran for the job was to remove Hernandez from office as I thought he was doing a lousy job, was incompetent, and had an employer mentality. That year 1978 was a contract year, thus I had the job of running the union while the President was away …"
    In 1981, Salcido was elected to the International Executive Board and served in that capacity until 1988. In October 1987 he underwent back surgery due to a work injury. This resulted in his immobilization for approximately eight months. The accident restricted his involvement as a union leader. Since the success of his recovery was uncertain, in 1988 he decided not to run for the Board again.
    Tony Salcido retired in November of 1994 at the age of 65. At the time of this writing, Salcido remains active in the union by attending the ILWU Pacific Coast Pensioners' Association Convention every year and regular membership meetings at the Union Hall in Wilmington; however, he has always maintained an excused absence for family vacations.

    Scope and Contents

    The Tony Salcido International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU), Local 13 Collection consists of booklets, correspondence, financial statements, manuals, minutes of meetings, and reports which primarily document his long and significant career as a dock worker, union member and leader of the ILWU, Local 13. Salcido has also collected many documents of historical significance from friends. Other materials include ballots, brochures, buttons, cards, cartoons, photographs, pins, and a series of publications. The collection has been divided into eleven series: ILWU, International Executive Board (1919-1991), ILWU, Local 13 (1942-1992), Committee and Council Records (1951-1991), ILWU Conventions (1971-1991), ILWU Caucuses (1974-1992), Arbitration Awards (1940-1991), Legal Issues (1926-1991), Agreements and Contracts (1938-1991), Subject Files (1929-1992), Union History (1946-2009), and Non-Manuscript Material (1962-1996).
    Series I, ILWU, International Executive Board, contains typed minutes of the International Executive Board, which Tony Salcido attended as an officer representing ILWU, Local 13. Files also contain minute attachments and records specifically related to Coast wide issues. These include agreements, constitution booklets, correspondence, election campaign records, financial statements, and memoranda. Of particular interest are files documenting the issues of "Blue Book" Unionism, Fighting Fund Assessment, ILA and ILWU Mutual Aid Agreement, Presidential Elections for 1991, and Staff Pension Trust. Files are arranged alphabetically by title and chronologically within each section.
    Series II, ILWU, Local 13, contains files specifically related to the activities of ILWU, Local 13 of which Tony Salcido was a member beginning in 1949. Records include ballots, bulletins, correspondence, financial statements, minutes, motions and actions, reports, rules, regulations and related administrative documents. Important issues documented in this series include dispatch rules, local election campaigns, regular member meetings and union finances. The files are arranged alphabetically by subject.
    Series III, Committee and Council Records, includes records created during Salcido's service on several committees and councils during his career as a longshoreman on the Los Angeles waterfront. Committees and councils represented in the records include: CLRC, Coast Pro Rata, Grievance, PMA-LLRC, Joint LRC, Registration, Stewards Council and Trial Committee. Files include agreements, appeals, arbitration guidelines, bulletins, committee minutes, complaint reports, correspondence, dispatch rules, financial statements, training manuals, transcripts and related documentation. Files are arranged alphabetically by name of committee or council.
    Series IV, ILWU Conventions, includes materials Salcido acquired when he attended many of the annual conventions of the ILWU as a delegate or member of Local 13's executive board. Files found in this series include agendas, correspondence, delegate credentials and rosters, financial reports, minutes and proceedings, news releases, policy statements, remarks of union officers, reports, and resolutions. Files are arranged chronologically by year of convention.
    Series V, ILWU Caucuses, consists of materials created while Salcido was a member of the Divisional Caucuses of the Longshoremen's and Walking bosses Caucus, and the Local Caucuses of ILWU, Local 13. The series has been divided into two subseries, accordingly. Salcido was a member of both caucuses during his more than forty years working on the waterfront. Files include agendas, amendments, cartoons, correspondence, internal memoranda, job duties, minutes, newspaper articles, personal notes, reports, resolutions, statistics and voting records. Files are arranged chronologically by caucus year.
    Series VI, Arbitration Awards, contains awards and decision documentation on such issues as dispatch disputes, health and safety issues, jurisdictional disputes, registration and de-registration, strikes and training. The files are arranged alphabetically.
    Series VII, Legal Issues, contains files from legal cases that cover a wide range of disputes between the union and management as well as between individual workers and the union itself. Cases that could not be resolved internally were heard before the National Labor Relations Board, United States District Court or the Court of Appeals. Records include briefs, consent decrees, correspondence, court orders, judgments, laws and procedures, legal proceedings, memoranda of understanding, motions, and related reports by Local 13's lawyer George Shibley. Of particular importance are cases dealing with attorney fees, de-registration, lost wages, race and sex discrimination, promotion, and seniority. Files are arranged alphabetically by plaintiff or subject.
    Series VIII, Agreements and Contracts, contains addendums, agendas, agreement booklets, amendments, brochures, contract document booklets, correspondence, job descriptions, listings and rates, memoranda, minutes, newsletters, pay stubs, pension fund information, proposals, and reports. Files are arranged alphabetically.
    Series IX, Subject Files, includes documentation of Crane Operation, the ILWU Oral History Project, the Longshoremen's Memorial Association, the Pacific Coast Marine safety code, the PMA, employee benefits, pensions, registration, safety and health issues. This series contains agendas, articles, booklets, bulletins, calendars, cartoons, correspondence, flyers, legislation, logs, manuals, minutes, newsletters, notes, pamphlets, photographs, proposals reports, and workbooks. Files are arranged alphabetically.
    Series X, Union History, contains book excerpts, dissertations, essays, publications, and newspaper clippings, which focus on union history. Topics in these files include leadership, longshore industry, Los Angeles labor movement, the strike of 1934, West Coast longshore industry and worldwide industrial workers. Files are arranged alphabetically.
    Series XI, Non-Manuscript Material, contains campaign buttons, membership cards, pro-union buttons, delegate pins, convention name tags, a "red plug" that was used for jobs out of the Dispatch Hall, membership books and other related memorabilia. The items are arranged in alphabetical order by subject and then chronologically within each section where applicable.

    Arrangement of Materials:

    Series I: ILWU, International Executive Board, 1919-1991
    Series II: ILWU, Local 13, 1942-1992
    Series III: Committee and Council Records, 1951-1991
    Series IV: ILWU Conventions, 1971-1991
    Series V: ILWU Caucuses, 1974-1992
        Subseries A: Divisional Caucus, 1974-1992
        Subseries B: ILWU, Local 13 Caucus, 1976-1992
    Series VI: Arbitration Awards, 1940-1991
    Series VII: Legal issues, 1926-1991
    Series VIII: Agreements and Contracts, 1938-1991
    Series IX: Subject Files, 1929-1992
    Series X: Union History, 1946-2009
    Series XI: Non-Manuscript Material, 1962-1996

    Related Materials:

    Conditions Governing Access:

    The collection is open for research use.

    Conditions Governing 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

    Tony Salcido, 1997

    Preferred Citation:

    For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materials  guide.

    Processing Information:

    Tony Salcido, Gary Petiz; 1997

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Ephemera
    Documents
    Photographs