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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?
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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!

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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

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ILWU Southern California District Council | 350 West 5th Street, Suite 208 | San Pedro | CA | 90731