75th Anniversary
San Francisco General Strike Events
July - August 2009

July 3 (Friday) 9.00 - 4:00 PM  (Free) - Marine Firemen’s Hall - 240 2nd St., SF
The 1934 San Francisco General Strike: An Educational Conference
The San Francico General Strike and West Coast Maritime Strike was a pivotal point for the working people in San Francisco and the West. This strike which was organized from the bottom up showed that the rank and file have the power to successfully form a union despite the resistance of the bosses, the media, the politicians and the government. The lessons of workers today for this strike are vital when millions of workers are unorganized and facing concession after concession with the economic collapse of our enconomy.
Videos Harry Bridges, A Man And His Union will be shown. This conference will also be streamed on the web for those who are unable to attend the conference.
Speakers including: Harvey Schwartz, Ralph Schoenman, Brad Weidemier, Akio Masuda, Cleophus Williams, Gifford Hartman, Clarence Thomas and Jack Heyman.
Hosted by ILWU Local 34 & Local 10, Transport Workers Solidarity Committee
www.sfgeneralstrike.org 

July5 (Sunday) 9:00 AM (Free) - Meet at Music Concourse - Steuart & Market St. SF
Bloody Thursday 75th Anniversary Procession
On the 75th anniversary of “Bloody Thursday,” thousands of maritime workers and trade unionists from San Francisco and from around the world will join in remembrance of the workers who were killed and injured in their struggle to establish a union and a union controlled hiring hall.
Please join.
Hosted by BALMA, ILWU Local 10, 34, 91, 75 & ILWU Pensioners. (Somber procession, uniformed, respectful and orderly.)

 

July 6 (Monday) 9:00 - 5:00 PM (Free) ILWU 34 Hall - 801 Second St. Next to AT&T Park, SF
The Lessons of The Past For The Struggles Today
International Labor Conference
Working people are under attack through out the world as well as in the US. The labor conference will look at the use of policies such as deregulation, privatization and free trade agreements to attack working people on a global level. The conference will also look at the increasing repression of labor and working people through legislation and militarization of society. Hosted by ILWU Local 10 & Local 34, Transport Workers Solidarity Committee, LaborFest
http://www.sfgeneralstrike.org/LaborConfStatement.htm
Document by Pietrasanta Marco, Italy
Brazilian document from Conlutas, Brazil

July 6 (Monday) 7:30 PM (Free) ILWU 34 Hall - 801 Second St. Next to AT&T Park, SF
International Music Night
International Labor Music Night with singers from around the world and labor musicians Anne Feeney and Jack Chernos.
Join in on a night of labor music. We will have labor solidarity songs about workers’ lives from Japan, Korea, Turkey, Italy and the Philippines. Bring your instruments, your tunes and music for an international music solidarity night.
http://www.annefeeney.com/

July 16 (Thursday) Reception - 5:00 PM (Free) SF Main library, 6th floor - 100 Larkin St. SF
The Men Along the Shore and the Legacy of 1934
An Historical Exhibition and Reception: This historical exhibit by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union celebrating the 75th anniversary of the West Coast Maritime Strike and the San Francisco General Strike. The exhibit is 7 feet tall and 100 viewing feet long, comprised of historical images documenting the 1934 West Coast maritime strike that would change labor history. The exhibit was produced by Richard Bermack and Robin Walker working with ILWU Education Director & Archivist Gene Vrana. (Show from 7/11 through 8/31)
www.ilwu.org

July 18 (Saturday) 10:00 AM (Free) Meet at Harry Bridges Plaza - Front of Ferry Building, SF
San Francisco General Strike Walk
Join a walk with historian Luis Prisco, ILWU Local 10 longshoreman Jack Heyman and musician David Rovics. This walk and history talk will look at the causes of the ‘34 General Strike and why it was successful. How was the strike organized and why are the issues in that strike still relevant to working people today? Also you will walk by the key historical sites in this important US labor struggle. Bring your lunch with you. Be prepared for a long walk.

July 18 (Saturday) 1:00 PM Angel Island Immigration Post North East side of the island
70th Anniversary of Harry Bridges Immigration Trial
In 1939, the Roosevelt administration sought to expel ILWU president Harry Bridges for being a member of the Communist party. These immigration trials took place five times and eventually as a result of the support committee and the backing of the membership this witch-hunt was defeated. This was a prelude to the witch-hunts in the late 1940’s and 1950’s.
Meet in front yard of the Immigration Post building.
You can bring your bike on the ferry for $1.00 from Tiburon, and free from San Francisco.
Ferry from Tiburon leaves every hour. $17.50
Tiburon - Angel Island Ferry (415-435-2131)
www.angelislandferry.com
Ferry from San Francisco by Blue & Gold (415-773-1188)
From Ferry Building - 9:20, 11:20 AM $15.00
From Pier 41 - 9:40, 11:45 AM (Ticket at the booth west of Pier 39)
www.blueandgoldfleet.com
www.angelisland.com

July 24 (Friday) 6:00 PM (Free) Redstone Building - 2940 16th St. & Capp St., SF
The Labor Temple: Past And Present
The tenants of the Redstone Building, the Redstone Labor Temple Association, invite you to an open house and evening of remembrance and entertainment at the historic San Francisco Labor Temple, 16th & Capp St. Built in 1914 by the San Francisco Labor Council, the Labor Temple housed numerous labor union offices and meeting halls through the years. It played a significant role in the 1917 United Railroads Streetcar Strike and the 1934 General Strike. It was in the auditorium of the Labor Temple where the strike vote of July 14, 1934 took place. Join us July 24, 2009 for an evening of live music, food and memories, celebrating the building’s history, murals, and tenants, past and present.

July 25 (Saturday) 10:30 AM (Free) Meet at 75 Folsom St. - Entrance of Hills Brothers Coffee Building, SF
San Francisco Labor History Water Front Walk
With Peter O’Driscoll and Lawrence Shoup
There are many stories to be told about labor struggles in San Francisco. This story is about the maritime industry from 1835 until the burning of the blue book in 1934. The main points in history will include President Andrew Jacksons effort to acquire this peninsula from Mexico; Gold discovery and the urgent need to build the San Francisco Wharfs; The Gold Rush gave the laboring man a value; San Francisco’s port to the sailor was a corrupt and wicked place; Sailors life, boardinghouses for coast-wise and high-sea sailors; The secret society of crimps in 1865; Young men’s fear of shanghaied; why the crimps; Labor supports the eight hour workday; The sailor who became a politician and rabble rouser for the workingman’s party of 1877, and the party’s influence at the state constitutional convention of 1878; The friction between Capital and Labor developed into a social question; Why business owners demanded Congress to increase the size of the army; Sailors union of 1885 and their violent strike in 1886; Why the ship owners association issued the grade book; The 1790 law provides for the arrest of seamen deserters; In 1892 Andrew Furuseth led the organizing of the Sailor’s Union of the Pacific; The Seaman’s act of 1915 it is now known as the “Magna Carta” of the American Seamen; Ship owner Robert Dollar’ resentment for union sailors in 1917; Dollar’s straw bosses broke the 1919 dock strike and issues the Blue Book.
Also labor historian Larry Shoup will talk about the history of the 1901 transportation workers strike which included the Teamsters and was smashed by the San Francisco police. This strike in part led to the formation of the San Francisco Union Labor Party which in 1905 swept the election and took control of the city.

August 1 (Saturday) 2:00-5:00 PM  
Films We Are The ILWU, The Eye of The Storm and May Day 2008
At SF Main Library, 6th floor, 100 Larkin St.  Hosted by ILWU Local 10.

August 22 (Saturday) 2:00-5:00 PM
Solidarity: An Oral History of the ILWU
Book signing by Harvey Schwartz, ILWU Historian & film premier Bloody Thursday at SF Main Library, 6th floor, 100 Larkin St.  Hosted by ILWU Local 10.