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ILA
membership grows
Opposition
to the "Wobblies"
Fighting gulf coast racism
ILA Arrives in Port of New York
While
the Lakes were pitched into turmoil, ILA
locals were cropping up across the U.S. and
Canada, with 307 locals in good standing by
1911-242 on the Great Lakes, thirty-four
(34) on the Gulf coast, sixteen (16) on the
Atlantic coast, seven (7) on the Pacific
coast, and even six (6) in Puerto Rico.
This extraordinary national expansion
marked the end of the dominating influence
of the Great Lakes locals on the union.
Under O'Connor, the ILA Gulf Coast
and Pacific Coast Districts were
established, in 1911 and 1912/3(?)
respectively. Though this was a period of overall growth for the union, the
power and presence of the ILA in many ports
expanded and contracted from time to time
due to a number of outside factors,
including economics and politics, as well as
inter- and intra-union clashes.
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"The
ILA ... set up some of the most
socially and politically aware labor
organizations of the day." |
The
ILA successfully staved off the communist "Wobblies"
in Baltimore and Philadelphia, the old-time
Knights of Labor in Boston, and the
unenlightened racists of the Gulf coast to
set up some of the most socially and
politically aware labor organizations of the
day. However, nowhere was the ILA's expansion to have more of a
lasting influence on the union than its
arrival in the Port of New York.
In
May 1908 ILA Local 791 became the first
branch in the Port of New York to survive
past infancy, despite a dire need for
organization.
By 1914, less than ¼ of New York's
dockworkers were in unions, roughly divided
between the ILA and LUPA.
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