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.

Buchanan, Roger. 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.

Bulcke, Germain. 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.

Fairley, Lincoln. 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.

Finlay, William. 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.

Fox, Joan, 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.

Goldblatt, Louis. 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.

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

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

Holmes, T. Michael. 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.

Jenkins, David. 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.

Kimeldorf, Howard. 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.

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

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

Magden, Ronald E. 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.

Magden, Ronald E., 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.

Nelson, Bruce. 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.

Pilcher, William. 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.

Quin, Mike. 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.

Raineri, Vivian McGuckin. 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.

Schmidt, Henry. 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.

Schneider, Betty, 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.

Schwartz, Harvey. 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.

Selvin, David F. 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.

Wellman, David. 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.

Zaiburg, Sanford. 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.