January 24, 1995 Contact: Francine Tyler (408/459-2495)

MILITANT TRADE UNIONISM IS ALIVE AND WELL, SAYS AUTHOR OF NEW BOOK BASED ON THREE-YEAR STUDY OF LONGSHOREMEN'S LOCAL 10 IN SAN FRANCISCO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--When sociologist David Wellman began an in-depth study of the Longshoremen's Union on the San Francisco waterfront, he expected that he would ultimately write yet another book on the decline of American labor and the death of militant trade unionism.

He was wrong.

In his new book, The Union Makes Us Strong: Radical Unionism on the San Francisco Waterfront (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994), Wellman concludes that waterfront trade unionism is alive and well. Moreover, he offers insights into the character of the American worker and the dynamics of the workplace and suggests that this country's service sector is poised for a surge of union organizing. The book will be released to stores next month.

Wellman, a professor of community studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, acknowledges that his findings conflict with the dominant view of labor, and he attributes the difference to his unique research experience. Wellman gained unprecedented access to both Local 10 of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) and to the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents employers. What he witnessed was the type of vital exchange between union members and management that had supposedly died decades ago.

Local 10 is one of the major longshore locals of the ILWU. Wellman, who spent three years immersed in the world of "gang bosses," "lashers," and "hold men," saw the union systematically challenging management's rule on the docks. The interactions surprised him because employers ostensibly control the workplace under the terms of collective bargaining agreements. "American unionism looks quite different than conventional wisdom suggests when you actually observe everyday union practices," says Wellman.

"It goes back to the roots of our culture. Americans don't like to take orders," he explains. "But the Constitution doesn't apply on the job, and there's no guarantee of free speech inside the plant gate. That makes people angry, and I think that's why American workers tend to be more militant on the shop floor than their European counterparts."

Wellman believes that labor scholars who have proclaimed the death of militant unionism have failed to look beyond formal labor agreements. What he saw is not unique to longshoremen or their industry, he asserts, adding: "If I'm right about the state of unionism and the spirit of the American worker, it means the service sector and Silicon Valley are ripe for union organizing, and so is California's hospitality industry--which includes hotel, airline, and restaurant workers."

Written in a style that is accessible to the lay public, Wellman's book offers a detailed view of the daily workings of the longshore operation, and it documents the dispute-management process on which both the union and employers rely.

"During my first two years, there were 800 disputes in the San Francisco-Oakland port district," says Wellman. "And the arguments came down to the most basic questions that labor and management deal with: who controls how the work will be done, how fast it will be done, how many men do it, and what equipment is used. Collective bargaining has not eliminated contests over how the work shall be conducted."

Wellman dubs such union challenges "defensible disobedience on the docks" and describes the grievance machinery as a "healthy, productive process."

"They fight a lot--if it were a marriage, you would want a divorce," says Wellman. "But the process allows the two sides to pursue their common agenda of moving cargo and their conflicting agendas at the same time. Rather than settling disputes, the contract is a weapon used by both sides." Organized workers who have a say in how the work gets done are better workers than those who are denied a "voice," concludes Wellman.

Local 10 is made up of about 3,000 men and women who load and unload cargo. Wellman, who conducted his research full-time between 1978 and 1981, began each day at the dispatch hall, watched the loading and unloading of ships, observed dispute resolution, and attended union meetings, negotiating sessions, and caucuses held by both sides. He began the project with permission to observe the union's activities and three months later was invited by employers to observe them as well. During the writing of the book, which took almost ten years, Wellman shared drafts with both sides with the understanding that neither side was allowed to censor the author but that he would try to incorporate their feedback, particularly when it differed from his own viewpoint.

"It's very, very rare that an outside scholar is given access by both sides to view the process," says Wellman. "But after three months they treated me like a fly on the wall."

Editor's Note: David Wellman can be reached at his UCSC office at (408) 459-2695, at his office at the Institute for the Study of Social Change at UC Berkeley, (510) 643-7238, or through Francine Tyler in the UCSC Public Information Office at (408) 459-2495. The Public Information Office can also provide review copies of The Union Makes Us Strong.

(This release is also available on UC NewsWire, the University of California's electronic news service. To access by modem, dial 1- 209-244-6971.)

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