Take It Easy, But Take It

"Within a year after the general strike [1934 San Francisco General strike], not a single member of the ILA in San Francisco was on relief - an hitherto unheard of situation. The Maritime Federation of the Pacific Coast was organized, to provide a central body through which all maritime unions could cooperate in mutual assistance. The second great strike, occurring in the winter of 1936-1937, was primarily occasioned by the need of the members of the seamen's unions, who had not benefitted commensurately in 1934 and desired to raise their pay scales and working conditions to comparable equality with shore workers. The strike actually started as a lockout, with the employers presenting a stubborn front against any improvements and deliberately closing the port. In the end the seamen won a reasonable victory, but the longshoremen, who went out with them, took slight losses in certain respects. An outstanding feature of the 1936-37 strike, which lasted 99 days, was t...