top
San Francisco
San Francisco
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Wed Jul 8 2009 (Updated 07/10/09)
75th Anniversary of "Bloody Thursday" and the San Francisco General Strike
Hundred of Union Members and International Supporters Commemorate "Bloody Thursday"
On Monday, July 6th, labor activists gathered at Harry Bridges Plaza in the Embarcadero to remember the day, July 5, 1934, when two strikers were gunned down and killed by police. Several hundred union members and their supporters, many from around the world, marched in a reenacted funeral procession of the fallen men, Howard Sperry and Nick Bordoise. As the procession passed the memorial at Mission and Steuart Streets, across the street from the site of the deaths, they took off their hats.

On July 9, 1934 a funeral was held for the two slain workers, Howard Sperry and Nick Bordoise, their coffins borne on flat bed trucks, led a solemn procession of over forty thousand people up Market Street. This violence against striking workers was the breaking point in a long series waterfront clashes. The subsequent general strike, shut down San Francisco, and crippled the west coast for days.

The result was the creation of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, ILWU, covering the entire west coast. The workers got their union run hiring hall, no more corrupt “shape up,” and workers in general benefited by the example set by the striking dock workers. Workers now had the confidence to join and form unions, and engage in collective bargaining. Catherine Powell, director of the Labor Archives and Research Center at San Francisco State University, called this; “A pivotal event in San Francisco and American Labor history, important in part because it came before the Wagner Act, granting the right to collective bargaining.” photo Read More with Photos

Video: 75th Commemoration of the 1934 San Francisco General Strike-Part 1 | Longshoremen remember 1934 and the death of two that helped make the UNIONS strong in SF | Three Commemoration Events Around 75th Anniversary Of the SF General Strike | Anniversary of a dark day "Bloody Thursday" a turning point in labor history | Wikipedia: 1934 West Coast waterfront strike

Unite Here Local 2 Rally at Hyatt Fisherman's Wharf
2024-03-20 Victory! EFF Helps Indybay Resist San Francisco Police Warrant and Gag Order Front Page | Police State & Prisons | Media Activism & Independent Media | San Francisco2024-02-09 Catholic Anti-Choice Marchers Get an Earful from Abortion Rights Activists in San Francisco Front Page | Health, Housing & Public Services | Womyn | San Francisco | South Bay | U.S.2024-01-10 Wall of Shipping Containers Intended to Keep the Public Out of People's Park Front Page | Police State & Prisons | Environment & Forest Defense | Global Justice & Anti-Capitalism | East Bay | California2023-12-08 Largest Ever Pro-Palestine Marches in NorCal Demand End to US Aid for Israel's War on Gaza Front Page | Anti-War | Central Valley | San Francisco | South Bay | Peninsula | U.S. | International | Palestine | Santa Cruz Indymedia2023-10-31 Three Activists Detained at Climate Protest for Crossing Beale Air Force Base Gate Front Page | Environment & Forest Defense | Anti-War | Central Valley | California | U.S.2023-09-29 California Climate Justice Actions in Coordination with Massive New York City March Front Page | Environment & Forest Defense | Central Valley | California2023-08-19 Environmentalists Speak Out Against Airport Expansion as Climate Disasters Accelerate Environment & Forest Defense | East Bay2023-08-12 Starbucks Bus Tour Stops in San Francisco, Rallies with Allies to Support Unionization Labor & Workers | San Francisco | Peninsula | California | U.S.2023-07-19 Halt to Fossil Fuel Funding Demanded as Wells Fargo Operations Shut Down Environment & Forest Defense | Global Justice & Anti-Capitalism | San Francisco | U.S.2023-07-13 Demonstrations Wrack France, Boiling Over After Police Murder of Youth Police State & Prisons | Health, Housing & Public Services | Global Justice & Anti-Capitalism | LGBTI / Queer | International | Government & Elections | Immigrant Rights2023-07-02 A Call for Pride to Return to its Roots as a Riot in Defense of LGBTQ+ Rights Health, Housing & Public Services | LGBTI / Queer | Womyn | San Francisco
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network