ILWU Reading List

Over the years, several books have been written about the ILWU. The following list details the author, title, publisher, price, main subject or theme, and availability of these books. These and other publications about the ILWU can also be read at the ILWU Library, 1188 Franklin Street, Room 324, San Francisco, CA 94109.

Roger Buchanan, Dock Strike: History of the 1934 Waterfront Strike in Portland, Oregon. The Working Press, 1975.
Valuable primarily because it illuminates the Columbia River experience. University libraries.

Germain Bulcke. Longshore Leader and ILWU-PMA Arbitrator. Bancroft Library, Regional Oral History Office, University of California at Berkeley, 1984.
The oral history and anecdotal account of Bulcke's San Francisco career as a member and officer of the ILWU. University libraries.

Lincoln Fairley. Facing Mechanization: The West Coast Longshore Plan. Institute of Industrial Relations, University of California at Los Angeles, 1979.
An overview of the origins and early impact of the historic longshore Modernization and Mechanization agreements 1960-1971, by the late ILWU Research Director and Area Arbitrator. University Libraries. Out of print, but a facsimile edition may be purchased from UCLA.

William Finlay. Work On The Waterfront: Worker Power and Technological Change in a West Coast Port. Temple University Press, 1988.
A provocative analysis of the impact of longshore mechanization and higher wages on ILWU members and Union militancy, primarily in Los Angeles.University libraries and bookstores, or from the publisher.

Joan Fox, editor. A History of Federated Auxiliaries of the ILWU 1934-1984. Federated Auxiliaries, 1993.
A thorough compilation of histories of local auxiliaries and the federation.

Louis Goldblatt. Working Class Leader In The ILWU, 1935-1977. Bancroft Library, Regional Oral History Office, University of California at Berkeley, 1980.
The oral history and anecdotal account of Goldblatt's career, in California and Hawaii, primarily as Secretary-Treasurer of the ILWU.

Paul Hartman. Collective Bargaining And Productivity: The Longshore Mechanization Agreement. University of California Press, 1969.
University libraries.

Warren Hinckle. The Big Strike: A Pictorial History of the San Francisco General Strike. Silver Dollar Books, 1985.
Stunning photographs and an informative narrative. University libraries.

T. Michael Holmes. The Specter of Communism in Hawaii. University of Hawaii Press, 1994.
Perhaps the best overview of political persecution in the name of anticommunism, and the central role of the ILWU as both a target and a rallying point for resistance. University libraries and the publisher.

ILWU. The ILWU Story: Three Decades of Militant Unionism. ILWU, 1963.
An overview of the history of all the divisions, jurisdictions, policies, and collective bargaining agreements of the Union. Out of print. ILWU local union offices.

ILWU. Men And Machines: A Story About Longshoring on the West Coast Waterfront. ILWU, 1963.
An extraordinary pictorial essay about the Union and technological change. Out of print. ILWU local union offices.

ILWU Local 500. Man Along The Shore! The Story of the Vancouver Waterfront. ILWU Local 500 Pensioners, 1975.
The only book about the ILWU longshore experience in Canada, told plainly and effectively through interviews. Out of print. ILWU Canadian Area offices.

David Jenkins. The Union Movement, The California Labor School, and San Francisco Politics, 1926-1988. Bancroft Library, Regional Oral History Office, University of California at Berkeley, 1993.
The oral history of an ILWU stalwart, with rare insights into the Union's leadership and the CIO. University libraries.

Howard Kimeldorf. Reds Or Rackets: The Making of Radical and Conservative Unions on the Waterfront. University of California Press, 1988.
Paperback: $13.00. An innovative analysis of how and why the ILWU rank and file built the union and often took a different course than the ILA. Libraries, bookstores.

Charles Larrowe. Harry Bridges: The Rise and Fall of Radical Labor in the United States. Lawrence Hill & Co., 1972.
An unauthorized but respectful biography that highlights the trials and triumphs of Harry Bridges. Out of print. Libraries.

Ronald E. Magden. The Working Longshoreman. ILWU Local 23 and the Washington Commission for the Humanities, 1991.
A comprehensive and balanced narrative of longshore unionization in Tacoma and the Northwest. ILWU Local 23 and university libraries.

Ronald E. Magden. A History of Seattle Waterfront Workers 1884-1934. ILWU Local 19 and the Washington Commission for the Humanities, 1991.
An invaluable account of longshore unionization in the Northwest, particularly Seattle and the Puget Sound region.

Ronald E. Magden and A.D. Martinson. The Working Waterfront: The Story of Tacoma's Ships and Men. ILWU Local 23 and the Washington Commission for the Humanities, 1982.
A highly informative narrative account of the port, its unions, and technological change.

Bruce Nelson. Workers On The Waterfront: Seamen, Longshoremen, and Unionism in the 1930s. University of Illinois Press, 1988.
Hardcover: The newest and most comprehensive discussion of the growth of maritime unions on the Pacific Coast. Libraries, bookstores.

William Pilcher. The Portland Longshoremen: A Dispersed Urban Community. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1972.
A narrow sociological study of how the Union's solidarity has been affected by the political and ethnic roots of the rank and file. University libraries.

Mike Quin. The Big Strike. Olema Publishing Co., 1949, and New World Paperbacks, 1979 (re-issue).
The classic and comprehensive account of the San Francisco General Strike of 1934. Libraries.

Vivian McGuckin Raineri. The Red Angel. International Publishers, 1991.
A stirring account of the activist life and political times of Elaine Black Yoneda (1906-1988), including her role in the 1934 strike and the ILWU Auxiliaries. Libraries and the publisher.

Henry Schmidt. Secondary Leadership In The ILWU 1933-1966. Bancroft Library, Regional Oral History Office, University of California at Berkeley, 1983.
The oral history and anecdotal account of Schmidt's San Francisco career as a member and officer of the ILWU. University libraries.

Betty Schneider, and Abraham Siegel. Industrial Relations In The Pacific Coast Longshore Industry. Institute of Industrial Relations, University of California at Berkeley, 1956.
A traditional but insightful look at the role of the ILWU in transforming longshore labor relations. University libraries.

Harvey Schwartz. The March Inland: Origins of the ILWU Warehouse Division, 1934-1938. Institute of Industrial Relations, University of California at Los Angeles, 1978.
The only comprehensive study of the ILWU's organizing campaign in warehouse and distribution. University libraries.

David F. Selvin. A Terrible Anger: The 1934 Waterfront and General Strikes in San Francisco. Wayne State University Press, 1996.
The newest, most readable, and comprehensive narrative history of the strike.

David Wellman. The Union Makes Us Strong: Radical Unionism on the San Francisco Waterfront. Cambridge University Press, 1995.
A sociologist blends history, interviews, and analysis into the best description and appraisal yet written about the strengths, traditions and problems of the ILWU on the waterfront since the 1930s. Available from the ILWU library.

Sanford Zalburg. A Spark Is Struck! Jack Hall and the ILWU in Hawaii. University of Hawaii Press, 1979.
An epic account of the birth of the ILWU in Hawaii, and the Union's role in the social, economic, and political transformation of Hawaii. Out of print.

 

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