In 1934 America was in the depths of the depression and tensions were rising on the waterfronts.
In the early 1930s, the San Francisco port was the busiest on the Pacific Coast. Nearly 1 in 4 jobs were connected to the port. Despite this, working conditions were atrocious. Long hours and laborious work for little pay. The port employers were well connected with government officials and police who kept the unions at bay.
Enter Australian Harry Bridges who headed the International Longshore Union. In May 1934, Bridges called a strike by waterfront workers demanding better working conditions. Needless to say all hell broke out.
For several months riots broke out between strikers and employers, with many using fists, clubs and guns. With thousands out of work, the strikers felt had nothing to lose. Everything came to a head on July the 5th, 1934 when police opened fired on strikers in San Francisco. Howard Sperry a sailor and Nick Bordoise a cook both died from the gunshot wounds. This would become known as “Bloody Thursday”.
A public funeral was held for the men, with 15,000 union men silently leading the procession through the streets of San Francisco to the waterfront. The only sounds to be heard was a muffled drum and a funeral march.
The public were shook with sympathies swinging towards the strikers. This led to a four-day general strike that paralyzed the San Franciso.