1935 Gulf Coast longshoremen's strike

February 2025 The 1935 Gulf Coast longshoremen's strike was a labor action of the International Longshoremen's Association. Lasting for about ten weeks from October 1, 1935 to mid-December on the Gulf Coast of the United States, the strike was marked by significant violence. thumb|"Bringing in the Scabs" - Toulouse Street Wharf, New Orleans 1935 Motivations In Houston, New Orleans, and other major docks along the Gulf Coast, strikes and other labor conflict had been a regular annual occurrence through the 1930s.Roth Mitchel P. Kennedy Tom Houston Blue: The Story of the Houston Police Department 2012 University of North Texas Press 99 https://books.google.com/books?id=okqPTwDRHAUC&pg=PA99 15 April 2017 The 1934 West Coast waterfront strike of the previous summer, involving workers from both the ILA and the International Seamen's Union, had developed into a general strike in San Francisco, with encouraging results for dock workers. Moreover Texan union longshoremen tended to look to the West Coast for inspiration, rather than President Joe Ryan and his "dictatorial rule" as president of the national ILA.Willett Don The Galveston Bay Dock Wars, 1936-1937 East Texas Historical Journal March 1994 32 1 http://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2138&context=ethj 15 April 2017 Locals of the ILA struck 23 major shipping companies of the Gulf Coast, beginning on October 1. The ports involved included Corpus Christi, Galveston, Houston, Port Arthur, Beaumont, Lake Charles, New Orleans, Mobile, and Pensacola. The overall goal of the strike was ILA control of dock operations in New Orleans. The strike failed although many locals struck without the support of the corresponding Seamen's Union localsWillett Don The Galveston Bay Dock Wars, 1936-1937 East Texas Historical Journal March 1994 32 1 http://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2138&context=ethj 15 April 2017 and against the active resistance of Ryan.Gilbert Mers Working the Waterfront: The Ups and Downs of a Rebel Longshoreman 1 January 1988 University of Texas Press 162 9780292760226 https://books.google.com/books?id=QQGJu4Ydt4wC&pg=PA162 15 April 2017 The NAACP's publication The Crisis pointed out that New Orleans already had two strong unaffiliated longshore unions (one white, one black), which kept working all through the strike; that the ILA's forced closure of other Gulf ports had only driven ship traffic towards New Orleans; and that the change might be permanent.Francis Robert C. The Crisis https://books.google.com/books?id=uFcEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA373 15 April 2017 NAACP 1 December 1935 Aftermath The ten weeks of the strike were marked with significant violence. Police in Houston, for instance, deputized 56 strikebreakers into the force temporarily, several being former officers allowed to wear their old uniforms, and dock officials imported their own recruits by the busload and hired Frank Hamer to head "a special force of twenty ex-Texas Rangers and sheriffs to prevent sabotage and looting."Roth Mitchel P. Kennedy Tom Houston Blue: The Story of the Houston Police Department 2012 University of North Texas Press 100 9781574414721 https://books.google.com/books?id=okqPTwDRHAUC&pg=PA99 15 April 2017Boessenecker John Texas Ranger: The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, the Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde 26 April 2016 Macmillan 447–8 9781250069986 https://books.google.com/books?id=BC7ECwAAQBAJ&pg=PA447 15 April 2017 That became a full-time position for Hamer for years, and he earned more than he had ever made. "Special officers" loyal to industrial interests remained attached to the Houston Police for another year until they were dismissed as part of the resolution of the 1936 Gulf Coast maritime workers' strike in January 1937, engineered by incoming Mayor Richard Fonville.Willett Don The Galveston Bay Dock Wars, 1936-1937 East Texas Historical Journal March 1994 32 1 http://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2138&context=ethj 15 April 2017 Associated Press reports counted 11 killings related to the strike on November 9,Gulf to Put 1075 Men Back to Work https://newspaperarchive.com/us/texas/port-arthur/port-arthur-news/1935/11-09/page-21?tag=port+arthur+strike+killed&rtserp=tags/port-arthur-strike-killed?page=3&ndt=by&py=1930&pey=1939 25 April 2017 Port Arthur News 9 November 1935 then a total of 14 on November 27.Young Striker is Shot to Death on Houston Waterfront https://newspaperarchive.com/us/mississippi/biloxi/biloxi-daily-herald/1935/11-26/page-3?tag=sam+brandt+houston+striker+killed 15 April 2017 Bixoli Daily Herald 26 November 1935 Known casualties include a black strikebreaker named Henry Jones, said to be the first fatality, on October 5;First Fatality in Dock Strike in New Orleans https://newspaperarchive.com/us/alabama/anniston/anniston-star/1935/10-05?tag=new+orleans+henry+jones+negro+riverfront+brick&rtserp=tags/new-orleans-henry-jones-negro-riverfront-brick?psb=relavance 25 April 2017 Anniston (AL) Star 5 October 1935 a striking ILA member named Etienne Christ shot to death in Port Arthur, Texas, on 10/21;Striker Killed in Fight Near Docks https://newspaperarchive.com/us/texas/port-arthur/port-arthur-news/1935/10-21?tag=port+arthur+striker+killed+christ&rtserp=tags/port-arthur-striker-killed-christ?psb=relavance 14 April 2017 The Port Arthur News 21 October 1935 three strikebreakers killed at the Port of Lake Charles, Louisiana, on 10/22;Marshall F. Ray Labor in the South 1967 Harvard University 204 9780674507005 https://books.google.com/books?id=gYZEAmC0y9oC&pg=PA204 14 April 2017 independent black longshoreman Will Ballinger drowned while trying to escape from an attacking mob;Gulf to Put 1075 Men Back to Work https://newspaperarchive.com/us/texas/port-arthur/port-arthur-news/1935/11-09/page-21?tag=port+arthur+strike+killed&rtserp=tags/port-arthur-strike-killed?page=3&ndt=by&py=1930&pey=1939 25 April 2017 Port Arthur News 9 November 1935 and striker Samuel L. Brandt shot to death in Houston on 11/25. The conflict, particularly in Houston and Galveston, would continue through the 1936 Gulf Coast maritime workers' strike into early 1937. References 2 Gulf Coast Category:Maritime labor disputes in the United States Gulf Coast Category:Labor disputes in Louisiana Category:Labor disputes in Texas Category:1930s strikes in the United States