Mechanizing the Waterfront: Labor Solidarity and the Postwar Automation of the Docks

Abstract The International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union ( ilwu ) was regarded as one of the most radical unions of the 20th Century. Led by the charismatic Harry Bridges, the ilwu helped engineer the 1934 San Francisco General Strike and effectively navigated the tumultuous postwar years. Yet, even the most fiercely anti-capitalist unions cannot resist change forever. In 1961, the union’s leadership accepted the M&M Agreements, ushering in a more collaborative approach to mechanizing the waterfront. Instead of strengthening the union, M&M produced new tensions, often along generational lines, between union officials and the rank-and-file. By the 1970s, containers and the machines that moved them had streamlined the loading and unloading of vessels, and with them returned the old concerns around job security. These fears were particularly acute among the younger, increasingly diverse, and more radical rank-and-file. A workforce that had not received their “share of the machine,” and were determined to fight back. When the M&M contracts elapsed in 1971, the longshoremen closed the West Coast ports in what would become the longest dock strike in U.S. history. Facing rising inflation and a hostile administration in Washington, the embattled union had little leverage and few friends to rely upon during the prolonged fight. The 1971 episode dealt a painful blow to a contractually weakened and politically ostracized union. Most importantly, the strike did little to address the larger concerns around the pace and control over mechanization—questions that remain to this day.