Origins 1936 Gulf Coast maritime workers' strike
curran, right, in 1940s, captain clifton lastic of liberty ship (ss) bert williams
in houston, new orleans, , other major docks along gulf coast, strikes , other labor conflict had been regular annual occurrence through 1930s. in july 1934 3 black longshoremen had been shot death in firefight on houston docks during strike. in 1935 longshoremen along entire coast had struck october 1 through november 27 little avail except fourteen more killings.
nationally, maritime workers had suffered declining wages , increasingly untenable working conditions under leadership of international seamen s union; isu perceived corrupt , inefficient. 1 response increasing numbers of wildcat strikes. in march 1936 joseph curran led spontaneous four-day work stoppage on docked ss california in san pedro, california, attracting personal attention , degree of support u.s. labor secretary frances perkins.
also march 1936, seamen , longshoremen of gulf coast port cities had organized maritime federation of gulf coast . in new orleans conference named wobbly gilbert mers of corpus christi leader. rejection of isu set stage union vs. union street tension, , long list of beatings , violent incidents, through entire year.
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