The International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s (ILWU) 1971 strike began on July 1, when ILWU members walked out against their employers, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA). The union's goal was to secure employment, wages, and benefits in the face of increased mechanization, shrinking workforce, and the slowing economic climate of the early 1970s. The strike shut down all 56 West coast ports, and lasted 130 days, the longest strike in the ILWU's history. The conflict ended in victory for the ILWU and secured that union's position on the docks.
The strike had a "cooling-off" period beginning in October 1971, when President Nixon obtained an 80-day injunction to stop the strike under the Taft–Hartley Act, a federal law that restricts the activities and power of labor unions. The injunction expired on January 17, 1972, and the ILWU went on strike once again, until an agreement ending the strike was reached in February 1972.
In this image, taken on the day the strike resumed in January 1972, Frank Mulholland, left, member of ILWU Local 19 (longshoremen), places a pro-strike picket sign on the windshield of a car parked at Pier 20 in Seattle. Standing next to him is Paul Anderson, member of ILWU Local 52 (clerks and checkers).
Caption information source: "The 1971 ILWU Strike: 130 Days to Victory," retrieved from https://depts.washington.edu/dock/1971_strike_history.shtml Caption information source: "West Coast longshore strike resumed," The Seattle times, January 17, 1972, p. 1. Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and attached to the back of the photograph.
