Previous | Next
Part: 123456789 Session: 1 Page na123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495050a51525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248249250251252253254255256257258259260261262263264265266267268269270271272273274275276277278279280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300301302303304305306307308309310311312313314315316317318319320321322323324325326327328329330331332333334335336337338339340341342343344345346347348349350351352353354355356357358359358359360361362363364365366367368369370371372373374375376377378379380381382383384385386387388389390391392393394395396397398399400401402403404405406407408409410411412413414415416417418419420421422423424425426427428429430431432433434435436437438439440441442443444445446447448449450451452453454455456457458459460462463464465466467468469470471472473474475476477478479480481482483484485486487488489490491492493494495496497498499500501502503504505506507508509510511512513514515516517518519520521522523524525526527528529530531532533534536537538539540541542 of 542
of an occurrence, and a reasonable estimate of how often this particular occurrence had been duplicated. He kept saying, “Of course, we don't speak for anybody but ourselves. You know that. We just know what happens on our dock.”
This man's name was Harry Bridges. Nobody had heard of him before. Nobody knew him. He certainly was not an aggressive or impressive person. He wasn't impressive at all, except for the fact that he was one of the first ones who had come before them who seemed to be able to think. Although he was a little slow and thought slowly, he seemed to be able to think. He seemed to have his facts well in hand. He had some reasonable ideas and some verified complaints. He spoke favorably of his own employers and believed that the proposal that he made would be acceptable to the Moore-McCormack Line, because they were, he said, more reasonable than many of the other employers in the port. He hadn't, of course, discussed it with anybody because he was in no position to. He said, “We don't have a union and so I'm not an officer of any union. I'm just a longshoreman.” He was asked how long he'd worked there and he said he had worked sixteen years as a longshoreman for the Moore-McCormack
© 2006 Columbia University Libraries | Oral History Research Office | Rights and Permissions | Help