End of an Era

(In his final column in The Dispatcher before retiring, Harry Bridges bid farewell to the membership (On The Beam July 8, 1977):

I want all the members of this union, active and retired, to know that my life, with all its ups and downs, would have been nothing without them. Sure, I got the publicity, the testimonial dinners, the interviews on television. I got to meet with all kinds of famous people. Mainly, I got to play a small part in some of the great events of this century. 

I was also the one that got attacked, red-baited, called every name under the sun. All of this stuff, the good and the bad, came about because the rank and file of this union choose to elect me as their representative. The praise I got really belonged to the members of this union, and the attacks on me were all directed at them. I’ve so far had an interesting and rewarding life, and I owe this personal satisfaction to the rank and file of the ILWU….  

Things happen so fast, it’s hard to put things in perspective. But I want to conclude by pointing out that when I came to this country 57 years ago, unions were scarcely the power they are today. 

Few of us really believed that we could win decent wages, a little dignity and security on the job, some comforts in our old age, a sense that if we were sick or injured we wouldn’t be told to get lost – let alone a car, a house, a college education for the kids. We’ve come a long way since that time – and every inch of the way by fighting. What we’ve been able to do is carve out a little toehold for ourselves in this system. 

We haven’t equalized the distribution of wealth, we haven’t put political power in the hands of the working class. The gains we’ve made are under continued, relentless attack. But I think we can at least look back and say that it’s all been worthwhile.

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