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Time Flies When You Are a Longshoreman
By Jon Halgren
Little did I know the importance of “B”
Registration. In 1963 I obtained a
position on the B list that had no medical or dental. How wonderful when I had
qualified for benefits. I did not comprehend the extent of the dental and
medical coverage. It was fantastic. I
am here to make money so I can go to the University.
I did start wondering when I could, and would, get
union membership. I knew the union was important to keep safety, working
standards, and equalization of work.
There was no advancement to union membership from
1957 until 1962. The Modernization and Mechanization agreement caused long and
hard discussions about the future. Would this be the end of the union?
Would there be employment for future longshorepersons? Would the onerous working conditions be mechanized
so as to allow the cargos to continue?
Retirement early? Would it be taken by those
eligible to make room for new workers? Yes, many early retirements were taken,
the onerous conditions were mechanized and more cargos moved across the docks.
In
1962 the “57 poolies” were advanced to A status and Union membership. The
process of limited registration is begun.
I am registered in 1963. After six months I am
qualified for benefits. This is a great part-time job and time went fast.
I became a union member and A man in 1965. There
is an increasing amount of military cargo bound for South East Asia. I see
building materials, tanks, dozers, back hoes, foodstuffs and what seemed like an
endless supply of beer. We got very
good at slinging jeeps. You get good
after spending eight hours a day, for five days. So we could do it again for the
next ship. This was the early days
of the deployment of troops in Vietnam.
Working military L/S jobs I earned a dollar amount
more than my income tax for the year. It
gave me a strange feeling to be making money-sending supplies to Vietnam ----as
I did not favor war.
For my next job, I decided to try the Gear locker,
gear man job. This was great.
I could drive a load of gear to out ports, see new jobs and people. The
job was interesting, exciting, and fun.
The
military was increasing so that they now used out ports for the lumber as well
as wheeled vehicles and other cargo. All the ports worked well, and strived to
maintain a good reputation. I think they did a good job.
I think then as now all workers strive to
do a good job
with no damages and no injuries.
The Washington Army National Guard wanted my
services so on the 3rd of July 1964, I was off to Ft. Lewis.
Ft Lewis had not been used for basic training since WWII. The amount of
shortcomings, and deficiencies caused me to wonder how the U S could prevail in
S E Asia. After one week I was ready to get back to the Seattle waterfront.
Uncle
had control of me and Uncle Sam wanted me fully trained and the training lasted
16 weeks. I did learn that I would have difficulty taking a life of another
person. I was lucky that I never had to. I
was surprised how much I missed the fellow workers and the jobs.
When I got back to the job it was still fun,
exciting and fun.
I was on the Trucker board and worked the docks.
Most often Container Freight Stations.
Talk was that we would have a great increase in container stuffing and
unstuffing.
The court threw out the three-mile rule, which had
been negotiated; so longshore did not get the big increase in employment that
was expected.
A few years passes and I was told that my
seniority put me in line for the Deck board. Do you want to go to the Deck
board? To be trained for the cranes you first had to be on the deck board.
Being on the deck board indicated that you wanted to be trained for
cranes. It seemed like I turned my head and the crane class was starting.
Next thing I knew I was in the in the seat of the
crane working the Lions Gate Bridge.
In early June of 2003 I was talking with someone
and realized if I started in 1963, in July I would have 40 years on the
waterfront.
I think back to the M & M agreement and how
workers would retire and make a spot for a younger person. That is for me. I
think I could stay until I am 65 but I want someone else to experience the job.
I am out of here. ASAP. Thanks for the good
memories.
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