Abstract

West Coast Waterfront Showdown

This article focuses on problems faced after opening of West Coast waterfront in the U.S. A West Coast waterfront strike made daily headlines. One hundred and sixty-eight ships lay idle at the docks. The shipowners, through the Waterfront Employers' Association and the Pacific-American Shipowners' Association maintain that wages and the hiring-hall are not real issues in the strike. The men on the picket line feel that the shipowners' methods have been streamlined but that their purpose is still the same. The unions asked for Sundays off. The shipowners compromised on one unspecified day off a week for each longshoreman. The union asked for a maximum shift of eight hours. The employers offered a maximum nine-hour shift but with so many conditions attached that it was unacceptable.