Join the 30th Annual Labor Day Parade Monday in Wilmington
- PRINTABLE FLYER for biggest annual Labor Day march west of the Mississippi
- March starts Mon., Sept. 7th at 11 am from Broad & E Streets, Wilmington, CA
- ILWU's epic 1934 strike featured in NEW FILM by Jack Baric with screening at San Pedro's Warner Grand on Thurs., Sept. 3rd at 8 pm and airing on KOCE-TV on Sun., Sept. 6th at 8 pm
- Got labor history?
LOS ANGELES HARBOR --
September 1, 2009 --
Monday is Labor Day. Workers in southern California
will gather in Wilmington for the biggest Labor Day
parade west of the Mississippi. If you really wanna get
in the spirit of what this worker holiday means, then
chew on THIS....
Exactly 75 years ago, dockworkers on the West Coast
held their breath as a federal mediator weighed the
demands by striking longshore workers, who had
embarked earlier on the epic strike that would
ultimately give birth to the ILWU.
Already that year -- 1934 -- thousands of workers
walked off the job in May and within a few months, six
workers had been martyred and hundreds suffered
bloody injuries. But bullets and batons could not beat
down workers, who staged the 2nd successful
general strike in American labor history and held
together under the strike committee led by the
legendary labor leader, Harry Bridges.
But it eventually came down to that federal mediator,
brought in by President Roosevelt, who released a
national arbitration award on Oct. 12, 1934 in which
the workers won every objective for which they had
gone out on strike over: A single coastwide longshore
contract... worker control over hiring on the docks...
recognition of a west coast union bargaining unit.
In a single year through an epic struggle of labor
history, longshore workers went from being "wharf
rats" to "lords of the docks." The drama and
bloodshed
of 1934 played out all across the west coast, with San
Pedro and Wilmington being at the center of American
labor history.
It is fitting that on this 75th anniversary of the epic
dockworkers strike of 1934 that the ILWU story is
being told in a new one-hour documentary by San-
Pedro-filmmaker Jack Baric.
Baric's film, Bloody Thursday, tells the
whole story of the 1934 strike and will screen locally at
San Pedro's Warner Grand Theatre and on
KOCE-TV and other PBS stations around the country.
PRINTABLE
FLYER
Not only did longshore workers make
history, we're ensuring others can learn about
it. ILWU Local 13, Local 63, Local 94, the
ILWU Southern California Pensioners Group, the
ILWU Coast Committee, along with the Harry Bridges
Institute and supporters in the community raised the
funds needed for Baric to create
Bloody
Thursday, which shows Thursday, September
3rd at 8 pm at the Warner Grand and Sunday night,
September 6th at 8 pm on KOCE-TV. Check your local
listings for airing of
Bloody
Thursday, outside southern California.
Also showing on 25 PBS stations around the country
this weekend will be
From Wharf Rats to the
Lords of the Docks, a play documenting the
birth of the ILWU and featuring Ian Ruskin as strike
leader Harry Bridges. In Los Angeles, you can catch
the play on KCET, Channel 28, on Sunday, September
6, at 10:30 p.m.
Click for scheduled
showings.
Q: What's the best way to make history?
A: Get out there and do it yourself.
So watch some ILWU history this weekend -- and
then on LABOR DAY, let's make some labor
history of our own.
Join thousands of your Brothers and Sisters in
Wilmington,
California for the largest
Labor Day parade west of the Mississippi.
The Los Angeles Harbor Labor Coalition holds their
30th annual
Labor Day
Solidarity March and Rally starting with the 11 am
parade
(route here) and winding up with a free
community BBQ and rally
in historic Banning Park. Hear the voices of labor from
our main stage! Eat a free meal and walk the various
booths that make this a rare moment when workers
can come together to celebrate OUR day!
The delegates and officers of the ILWU Southern
California District Council wish you a safe and happy
Labor Day celebration on Monday!
PRINTABLE FLYER
30th Annual
Labor Day Solidarity March & Rally
Monday, Sept. 7th @ 11 am
Broad & E Streets
Wilmington, CA
Join thousands of your union Brothers &
Sisters for a 1.5-mile march in the longest running
Labor Day parade west of the Mississippi!
Community BBQ and rally follows at historic Banning
Park!
About the Southern California District Council
The Southern California District Council is made up of
delegates selected by locals from all divisions of the
ILWU, including Local 13 (Longshore), Local 13A
(Allied Division), Local 20 (Borax), Local 26 (guards),
Local 29 (San Diego), Local 30 (Boron), Local 46
(Port Hueneme), Local 63 (Marine Clerks), Local 63A
(Office Clerical Unit), Local 65 (Port Police), Local 68
(Port Pilots), Local 94 (Foremen); Marine Division
(Inland Boatman's Union), the Southern California
Pensioners Group and the Ladies Auxiliary No. 8. For
more information on the District Council, feel free to
write us.
|
ILWU Southern California District Council
phone:
(310) 521-8796
|
|
