The 1934 West Coast waterfront strike turned deadly in San Francisco on July 5, 1934. Strikers Howard Sperry and Nicholas Bordoise were shot and killed by SF police near Mission and Steuart streets. The California National Guard was called in, with the surreal scene of troops, tanks and heavy machine guns deployed in an American city. Days later, the quiet, dignified funeral procession of thousands of strikers marching down Market Street deeply touched all those who witnessed it. The waterfront strike became a general strike, and nothing moved in San Francisco. The ship owners quickly came to the table, with the major demands of labor met. It sparked major improvements for workers throughout the country.
As I took this photo in front of the Longshoreman's Union Hall near Fisherman's Wharf, a worker walked out and began talking with me. He shook my hand, saying in all his years at the hall I was the first non-Longshoreman he'd met who knew this history. Remember, always read the plaques!
Mission & Steuart. Site of the July 5, 1934 waterfront strike shootings. Memorialized by this art installation.
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