In the 1930s Oakland and San Francisco were industrial cities where the majority of the citizens made their livings in blue collar occupations. Much of that was centered around the fact that the Bay Area was then the principal west coast port. With the great depression it became a hot bed of militant union activity and radical politics. Among the most powerful and feared of the unions was the ILWU International Longshore and Warehouse Union
It's leader for 40 years was this man.
Harry Bridges
He was high up on the hit list of McCarthyism. The establishment did everything in their power to destroy him. They never succeed. He was made of hard and tough stuff. If Harry is looking on from somewhere in the great beyond, I am certain he will be pleased at the way things are unfolding in Oakland.
There are not many people unaware of the fact the the Oakland Police Dept. supported by cops from a number of other Bay Area law enforcement agencies went on a rampage of violence and brutality against the protesters of Occupy Oakland last Tuesday night. Video images of the mayhem have spread around the globe and have generated strong public outrage. Occupy Oakland is calling on the community to show support and solidarity by making a general strike on Nov. 2nd.
At Occupy Wall Street on Friday, 10/28/11, Jack Heyman announces the solidarity of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union with the Occupy Oakland's call for a General Strike on November 2 in response to the police violence against protesters in Oakland.
It has been long time since the Bay Area has seen a longshore workers strike. San Francisco has turned into Wall St. West and the hills are alive with yuppies. Oakland was a chronically depressed island in a sea of prosperity when the boom was still on. The prosperity and the real estate prices have fallen apart and few people have any personal heritage to call on in dealing with it. That heritage is there on the docks of the bay. We just have to reach back in time to find it.
Here's hoping that on Nov. 2, 2011 the descendants of Harry Bridges will shut the docks down and the lords of the elite will be forced to confront the reality that American workers are still a force to be reckoned with.