Local 851 & Galveston's segregated waterfront
Longshoremen are the workers who handle cargo operations on ships that called the busy port of Galveston! Galveston‘s longshoremen have a rocky history in terms of racial segregation, and rights to work on the waterfront. Like many ports in the late 1800s to mid 1900s, the longshore unions at the port of Galveston separated by race. Although the unions were racially divided, it was common to have longshoremen from separate unions loading or unloaded the same cargo on the same vessel. Although it was very uncommon for them to be paid the same wages. In 1913, After multiple labor disputes stemming from unfair labor hiring practices, local 851 was born as an all black longshore union. Local 851 was formed from a long-standing labor organization on the Galveston waterfront. Formerly known as the Lone Star Cotton Jammers and Longshoremen’s Association of Texas. After decades of unfair hiring practices, uneven wages, and racial tension on the waterfront, In 1920, there was a Longshoremen strike that shook up the state of Texas. Local 851 joined a few other unions during this strike. The Texas Rangers and National Guard were dispatched to Galveston by Governor William P. Hobby. Local 851 was at this location until 1983. The federal District Judge, Norman W. Black, ordered Local 851, Local 307, Local 329, and Local 1576 to merge into Local 20. One of the same Unions that operates on the Galveston Waterfront today.
Interested in information covered in this episode? Reference links below:
Local 851 - Case Law
Galveston Longshoremen in Jim Crow Texas
Galveston Longshoremen Strike of 1920
Biracial Unions on Galveston's Waterfront, 1865-1925: Book
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