International Longshore and Warehouse Union

The union, which still uses hiring halls, has a single labor contract with the Pacific Maritime Association which covers all 29 seaports on the west coast of the US, from Bellingham, Washington, to San Diego; its 15,000 dockworkers were paid an average of $171,000 in 2019.They pressed demands for a coastwide contract, a union-run hiring hall and an industrywide waterfront federation and led the membership in rejecting the weak "gentlemen's agreement" that the conservative ILA leadership had negotiated with the employers.[8] Still, in the judgement of historian Albert S. Broussard, "as far as blacks were concerned, the ILWU stood head and shoulders above other Bay Area locals in virtually every respect" during World War II.The union negotiated a groundbreaking agreement in 1960 that permitted the extensive mechanization of the docks, significantly reducing the number of longshore workers in return for generous job guarantees and benefits for those displaced by the changes.The additional longshore work produced by the Vietnam War allowed Bridges to meet the challenge by opening up more jobs and making determined efforts to recruit black applicants.[12] The ILWU was accused of engaging in a slowdown of work on docks in 2002, as an alternative to a strike, to support its contract demands in negotiations with the Pacific Maritime Association.In protest of the Iraq War, the ILWU encouraged longshore workers to "shut down all West Coast ports" by walking off the job on May 1, 2008, to "make May Day a 'No Peace, No Work' holiday."[16] In August 2014, the Israeli-owned ZIM Piraeus was the subject of a major demonstration at the Port of Oakland instigated by the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC).[17] The AROC claimed to have been supported by ILWU dockworkers who refused to unload the ship's cargo, stating that "Workers honored our picket and stood on the side of justice."[20] In Southern California, the lockout slowdown caused more than twenty-five cargo ships to idle off the coast, affecting over 700 mariners, primarily Overseas Filipinos.[32] Federal labour minister Seamus O'Regan stated all options were available, leaving the possibility for back-to-work legislation, but it was ultimately not needed to resolve the dispute.[33][34] On October 1, 2023, the ILWU filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, stating it can no longer afford to keep fighting claims by ICTSI concerning the amount of its liability for its 2012 illegal work stoppages at the Port of Portland.
Harry Bridges led the ILWU from 1934 to 1977
ILWU headquarters in San Francisco
Longshore worker and crane operator Al Webster joined the Seattle march on May 1, 2007 to call for an end to the Iraq war.
501(c)(5)labor organizationSan FranciscoCaliforniaSubsidiariesCanadian Labour CongressInternational Transport Workers' Federationlabor uniondock workersWest CoastUnited StatesHawaiiBritish ColumbiaCanadaInternational Longshoremen's Association1934 West Coast Waterfront Strikegeneral strikeAFL–CIOhiring hallsPacific Maritime AssociationseaportsBellingham, WashingtonSan Diegoworking classHarry BridgesIndustrial Workers of the WorldlongshoremanNational Industrial Recovery Actopen shopstrikebreakersSan Pedro, CaliforniaOakland, CaliforniaPortland, OregonSeattle, WashingtonEmbarcaderoBloody ThursdayAlameda CountyExecutive Order 8802Hawaii Democratic Revolution of 1954ILWU 1971 strikeSeafarers International Union of North AmericalongshoringlockoutTaft–Hartley ActNational Labor Relations ActRailway Labor ActIraq WarMay DayAmerican Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial OrganizationsPort of OaklandGaza StripslowdownmarinersOverseas FilipinosSeattle TimesSeattleTacomaInternational Container Terminal ServicesPort of Portland (Oregon)8 min 46 secondsprotest the murder of George FloydJuneteenth2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine2023 BC Port strikeinflationjob automationlabour ministerSeamus O'Reganback-to-work legislationChapter 11 bankruptcyLos Angeles Port Police AssociationWaterfront Workers History ProjectNelson, BruceGuidestarUS Department of LaborOffice of Labor-Management StandardsLos Angeles TimesSFGateThe Seattle TimesJewish Telegraphic AgencyJweeklyOregon Public BroadcastingThe Bancroft LibraryCalifornia State University, NorthridgeUniversity of California, DavisSan Francisco State UniversityAlbertaManitobaNew BrunswickNewfoundland and LabradorNorthwest/NunavutNova ScotiaOntarioPrince Edward IslandQuebecSaskatchewanNUCAUTBoilermakersLaborersIronworkersUNITE HEREClaude JodoinDonald MacDonaldJoe MorrisDennis McDermottShirley CarrBob WhiteKen GeorgettiHassan YussuffBea BruskeCanadian Congress of LabourInternational Labor Communications AssociationOne Big UnionTrades and Labor CongressWorkers' Unity League