Longshore workers turn back scabs

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S.F. Todd Shipyard workers fight takebacks An expression of militant mood on S.F. waterfront strike by Todd Shipyard workers against wage cuts SAN FRANCISCO-For the first time since the 1934 San Francisco general strike, an employer, Crowley Maritime Inc., has tried to work non-union on the San Francisco Bay Area waterfront. But within less than 24 hours, the attempt was soundly defeated.

On Feb. 6, Crowley was struck by the Inland Boatmen's Union (IBU), which is affiliated to the International Longshore -men's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU). Crowley had placed impossible demands on the IBU. These included a 35-percent wage cut, a reclassification of all workers as "temporary" (thus taking away all health and welfare benefits), and no hiring hall.

In the Bay Area, the strike has been 100 percent solid.

Crowley recruited a few scabs, and, in the early morning of Feb. 20, moved three struck ocean-going barges, loaded with Hawaiian canned pineapple, from Oakland to the small out-of-the-way port of Redwood City, 25 miles south of San Francisco.

The union was not taken by surprise. It had picket boats out and had monitored Crowley's radio messages. It moved fast. By 11:30 a.m. the IBU and the longshore and shipclerks locals had pulled all their members off all the piers and dispatched them to Redwood City.

A participant's account I was able to talk to a participant in the Redwood City events who gave me the following account:

"I was working in San Francisco. We got a call from the union at about 11 a.m. telling us that the barges were in Redwood City. We walked off the job, piled into our cars, and took off. By 11:45 over 1000 of us, men and women, were down there in front of the three gates. We were an angry Asher Harer is a retired member of the ILWU bunch. A lot of guys picket signs stapled to two-by-fours.

"A spokesman for the port came out and told us that they 'didn't want this to get out of hand.' He said two pickets at each gate were okay, but the rest of us should leave. We yelled back, It's already out of hand. We're staying!' "Right on the spot we elected a rank-and-file committee to talk to the port author -ities. While they were inside, we debated what to do next. Guys were saying things like: 'No room for negotiations on this one'-'We can't let anyone take away our livelihood, no way'—'We can't back down.

"In a few minutes, our committee came out. They reported that the port people claimed that we didn't know about legal rights, that they had the law on their and that they would unload the barges.

"We listened and then made a quick decision-that we'd better act before the place was crawling with cops from all over the Bay Area. So we left a few men to cover the gates and the rest of us went in. The security guards didn't try to stop us.

"The barges were several hundred yards away. We were running. When the scabs saw us coming, they dropped everything, ran to their cars, and took off. In order to escape, they rammed through a chain-link fence!

"By the time the cops got there, all the scabs were gone and we were back outside the fence. The cops didn't mess with us. They didn't want any trouble, and besides, side, was a wildcat in early April. there were no scabs left to protect. We left a few pickets at the gates and by 4 p.m. we were back at work."

Postscript: The three barges have since left Redwood City, still unloaded. One went back to Oakland. The other two are on the way up the coast, seeking another unlikely out-of-the-way port.

A warning to the bosses What is the meaning of this militant setback of the employer offensive, so reminiscent of the labor struggles of the 1930s? It recalls the slogan "An Injury to One is an Injury to All."

The Crowley strike is supported by all Bay Area unions but one-the renegade Marine Engineers Beneficial Association.

The ILWU contract with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), the employers' organization, ends on June 30. Negotiations are about to begin.

The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), on the East and Gulf Coasts, has been the victim of major takebacks in manning scales and juris -dictions. The PMA is demanding similar concessions on the West Coast.

The Coast Committee of the ILWU, in its report to the ILWU Caucus which met in San Francisco in mid-April, put forward new demands and stated that "the Coast Committee is absolutely firm in its opposition to any concession bargaining."

The Redwood City incident is a warning to the PMA that the IL WU ranks will fight if necessary. And, in addition, it should stiffen the resolve of the ILWU leadership to stand firm.

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