Strikes
- In June 1886, the union led a strike against the Oceanic Steamship Company.
- In 1901, the union participated in a San Francisco strike of over 20,000 men to oppose an open shop initiative by employers.
- On May 1, 1906, the union participated in a successful strike for better wages and working conditions. The strike lasted until November 1906.
- In 1921, faced with threats including a 15 percent reduction in wages, loss of overtime pay, a reduction from three to two watches, the union joined a national strike. The strike was unsuccessful, and by the end of the year unlicensed American mariners were being replaced by subsistence-wage foreign crews.
On May 16, 1934 the union joined the West Coast longshoremen's strike of 1934. Lasting 83 days, it led to the unionization of all of the West Coast ports of the United States. The San Francisco general strike, along with the 1934 Toledo Auto-Lite Strike led by the American Workers Party and the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934, were important catalysts for the rise of industrial unionism in the 1930s.
West coast sailors walked off their ships in support of the International Longshoremen's Association longshoremen, leaving more than 50 ships idle in the San Francisco harbor. In clashes with the police between July 3 and July 5, 1934, three picketers were killed and "scores were injured." During negotiations to end the strike, the sailors received concessions such a three-watch system, pay increases, and better living conditions.
- In 1936, all the Pacific Maritime Federation unions banded together to strike for wages, working conditions, and a union-controlled hiring hall. The strike was successful.
- The union participated in a 1948 West Coast strike that included the longshoremen. The strike lasted for four months with neither side clearly victorious.
- On March 16, 1962 the union called a strike and on April 11, 1962, under the Taft-Hartley Act, a federal injunction was issued to stop the strike. After lengthy court battles, an agreement was reached, with the union gaining numerous concessions, including "overtime in port, pension benefits, wages, vacation, and welfare benefits."
Read more about this topic: Marine Firemen's Union
Famous quotes containing the word strikes:
“Nothing is so beautiful as spring—
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightning to hear him sing.”
—Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889)
“What is line? It is life. A line must live at each point along its course in such a way that the artist’s presence makes itself felt above that of the model.... With the writer, line takes precedence over form and content. It runs through the words he assembles. It strikes a continuous note unperceived by ear or eye. It is, in a way, the soul’s style, and if the line ceases to have a life of its own, if it only describes an arabesque, the soul is missing and the writing dies.”
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963)
“What strikes many twin researchers now is not how much identical twins are alike, but rather how different they are, given the same genetic makeup....Multiples don’t walk around in lockstep, talking in unison, thinking identical thoughts. The bond for normal twins, whether they are identical or fraternal, is based on how they, as individuals who are keenly aware of the differences between them, learn to relate to one another.”
—Pamela Patrick Novotny (20th century)