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Police uniform from a longshoremen strike with gas mask, 1934
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| Title | Police uniform from a longshoremen strike with gas mask, 1934 |
| Photographer | Richard Nicol |
| Date | 1934 |
| Notes | "The 1934 dock strike in the Pacific Coast ports was prolonged and violent. On May 9, 1934, members of the International Longshoremen's Association walked off the job in every west coast port, and merchant marine sailors joined them several days later. The employers recruited strikebreakers, and transported them to and from work in trucks under police protection. Bloody battles broke out in San Francisco and Oakland, California, Portland, Oregon and Seattle, as the strike lasted nearly three months. Some Teamsters supported the strikers by refusing to handle ""hot cargo"" - goods which had been unloaded by strikebreakers. But by June 1, Dave Beck, president of the Seattle Teamsters, and Mike Casey, president of those in San Francisco, thought the maritime strike had lasted too long. They encouraged the strikers to take what they could get from the employers and threatened to use Teamsters as strikebreakers if the ILA didn't return to work. The situation intensified in Seattle following a series of failed negotiations. The violence of ""Bloody Thursday"" that accompanied the July 5 San Francisco General Strike was feared in Seattle as the number of waterfront picketers grew to 1, 200. Seattle's mayor ordered a series of raids on the headquarters of the Communist-led Marine Workers Industrial Union, arresting 28 persons, and longshoremen mounted a counter-attack on Seattle police headquarters. A violent conflict ensued at Smith's Cove on July 19, where 300 policemen armed with sub-machine guns tear-gassed strikers. One striker was killed by a tear-gas grenade and several others were seriously wounded. In this explosive atmosphere, the Waterfront Employers agreed to recognize the ILA on July 21 and arbitrate all outstanding issues with maritime unions. A coast-wide vote was taken among the ILA members on the question. Longshoremen in 17 coast ports voted in favor of arbitration with Everett the only port to oppose the strategy. Longshoremen returned to work on July 31. " |
| Location | United States--Washington (State)--King County--Seattle; |
| Digital Collection | King County Museum Collections
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| Note About Ownership | This record describes one of more than three hundred artifacts, photographs and documents, submitted by members of the Association of King County Historical Organizations. The King County Collects project took place during the county's sesquicentennial in 2001, to celebrate the shared collection of AKCHO's 205 members. The information presented here is the responsibility of the AKCHO organization which submitted the item for inclusion in the project. |
| Ordering Information | To order a reproduction or to inquire about permissions, contact The Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum, 317 3rd Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104, 206-748-9991, james.ritter@seattle.gov |
| Credit Line | Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum; All Rights Reserved |
| Repository | Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum |
| Type | Image |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned from slide as a 3000 pixel TIFF image in 16-bit color, resized to 640 pixels in the longest dimension and compressed into JPEG format using CONTENTdm's image import. |
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