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Convention, Part I V REPORT OF THE OFFICERS to the TENTH BIENNIAL CONVENTION, of the INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN'S & WAREHOUSEMEN'S UNION San Francisco, California, April 6, 1953 PART I TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF ILWU .. 52 .A1. i -J Preface to Report The officers have divided their report in two parts. Part I deals with the progress, problems and aims of the union. Part II, which is bound separately, reports in detail on the finances, work of the departments and the Coast Labor Relations Committee. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY Review 1 1951-1953 . 18 2. "NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FEAR ITSELF"- 34 3. DEFENDING THE UNION Bridges-Robertson-Schmidt Defense 46 Smith Act-Jack W. Hall 54 McCarran-Walter Act - 61 Screening - 66 Taft-Hartley - 70 4. ECONOMIC OUTLOOK -74 5. AN AMERICAN POLICY FOR PEACE - 85 6. UNION PERSPECTIVES - . 104 TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY REVIEW: This convention commemorates two anniversaries: one is the twen- tieth anniversary of the ILWU; the other the centennial of the first union of longshoremen on the Pacific Coast formed in the year 1853 in the city of San Francisco. In the files of the newspapers at that time, the "Alta California" speaks of: "City Intelligence-a strike-a lot of stevedores and longshore sailors struck for wages yesterday, raising the banner of '$6.00 a day' and paraded the streets during the morning.-May 27, 1851." The period between 1853 and 1933 marked many ups and downs in the course of organized labor. Repeated attempt to organize and form permanent unions met at best with temporary success and in no case were they able to hold on for any substantial period of time. The disastrous strikes of the 1919-1921 period when seamen were pitted against longshoremen marked the closing of an era and the beginning of an extended period of the open-shop combined with company unionism. It was not until 1933 that there was a resurgence of organization in the Pacific Coast ports. Not that attempts were not made in the interim period, but wherever the men raised their heads-either by participating in Labor Day parades in San Francisco, or by strike action led by the I.W.W. in San Pedro-they were quickly beaten down and blacklisted. By 1933 there was more than just a stirring in the ranks calling for the building of genuine unionism. There prevailed as well a backlog and even a folklore of organization which to most men pointed the road to the kind of unionism that had to be built if unions were to survive. EMPLOYER AND POLITICAL ATTACK It would have been impossible to rebuild the kind of a union which in years past had had its moments of victory, but had been just as quickly extinguished. History had caught up with the waterfront. The employers were a seasoned, hardbitten and expert lot when it came to keeping the men in line. Contrary to most industries Which followed the accepted standards of the "American Plan," the West Coast ship- owners had developed their own device-the company union-called the "Blue Book." Therefore it was not just the employers who had to be tackled, it was the renegades and labor fakers who had to be taken on as well. A new kind of unionism was born. Around it there grew up the -From THE DISPATCHER, April 13, 1951 initial organization of the ILA that later became the organization we are today. A set of principles became the guideposts of this organiza- tion, and although these principles may have at one time or another set the course of other unions, the total of these precepts had never before been embodied within one union. History made the union. The union, in turn, made history. It is well at this time on our twentieth anniversary to review the fundamental concepts on which this union is built We can leam from 2 them and to this day they still furnish the only sound basis for defense of the gains we have won and the guarantees of future advancement. There are ten cardinal rules around which this union was rebuilt: PRINCIPLES OF ILWU (1) A union is built on its members. The strength, understanding and unity of the membership can determine the union's course and its advancements. The men who work, who make up the union and pay dues can best determine their own destiny. If the facts are honestly presented to the men in the ranks, they will best judge what should be done and how it should be done. In brief, it is the membership of the union which is the best judge of its own welfare; not the officers, not the employers, not politicians and the fair weather friends of labor. Above all, this approach is based on the conviction that given the truth and an opportunity to determine their own course of action, the rank and file in 99 cases out of 100 will take the right path in their own interests and in the interests of all the people. (2) Labor unity is at all times the key for a successful economic advancement-anything that detracts from labor unity hurts all labor. Any group of workers which decides to put itself above other workers through craft unionism or through cozy deals at the expense of others will in the long run gain but little and inevitably will lose both its substance and its friends. No matter how difficult the going, a union must fight in every possible way to advance the principles of labor unity. NO DISCRIMINATION TOLERATED (3) Workers are indivisible. There can be no discrimination because of race, color, creed, national origin, religious or political belief. Any division among the workers can help no one but the employers. Dis- crimination of worker against worker is suicide. Discrimination is a weapon of the boss. Its entire history is proof that it has served no other purpose than to pit worker against worker to their own destruction. (4) "To help any worker in distress" must be a daily guide in the life of every trade union and its individual members. Labor solidarity means just that. Unions have to accept the fact that the solidarity of labor stands above all else, including even the so-called sanctity of con- tract We cannot adopt for ourselves the policies of union leaders who insist that because they have a contract, their members are compelled to perform work even behind a picket line. Every picket line must be respected as though it were our own. INTERNAL UNITY NECESSARY (5) Any union, if it is to fulfill its appointed task, must put aside 3 all internal differences and issues to combine for the common cause of advancing the welfare of the membership. No union can successfully fulfill its purpose in life if it allows itself to be distracted by any issue which causes division in its ranks and undermines the unity which all labor must have in the face of the employer. (6) The days are long gone when a union can consider dealing with single employers. The powerful financial interests of the country are bound together in every conceivable type of united organization to promote their own welfare and to resist the demands of labor. Labor can no more win with the ancient weapons of taking on a single em- ployer in industry any more than it can hope to win through the worn- out dream of withholding its skill until an employer sues for peace. The employers of this country are part of a well-organized, carefully coordinated, effective fighting machine. They can be met only on equal terms, which requires industry-wide bargaining and the most extensive economic strength of organized labor. ORGANIZE THE UNORGANIZED (7) Just as water flows to its lowest level, so do wages if the bulk of the workers are left unorganized. The day of craft unionism-the aristocracy of labor-was over when mass production methods were introduced. To organize the unorganized must be a cardinal principle of any union worth its salt; and to accomplish this is not merely in the interest of the unorganized, it is for the benefit of the organized as well. (8) The basic aspirations and desires of the workers throughout the world are the same. Workers are workers the world over. International solidarity, particularly to maritime workers, is essential to their protec- tion and a guarantee of reserve economic power in times of strife. (9) A new type of unionism is called for which does not confine its ambitions and demands only to wages. Conditions of work, security of employment and adequate provisions for the workers and their families in times of need are of equal, if not greater importance, than the hourly wage. (10) Jurisdictional warfare and jurisdictional raiding must be out- lawed by labor itself. Nothing can do as much damage to the ranks of labor and to the principle of labor unity and solidarity as jurisdictional bickering and raiding among unions. Both the public support and strike victories are jeopardized by jurisdictional warfare. RANK & FILE UNIONISM These, then, are the principles upon which this union was established twenty years ago. The degree to which they have been realized in every situation confronting this union has been the measure of our success. As we have said, most of these principles are not new, but the adoption 4 of all of them by a single union created a new kind of unionism on the Pacific Coast. Most workers simply called it-rank and file unionism. Principles by themselves mean as little as do resolutions which are passed and about which nothing further is done.
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