Page "Industrial Workers of the World" Paragraph 26

From 1913 through the mid-1930s, the IWW's Marine Transport Workers Industrial Union ( MTWIU ), proved a force to be reckoned with and competed with AFL unions for ascendance in the industry.

Given the union's commitment to international solidarity, its efforts and success in the field come as no surprise.

Local 8 of the Marine Transport Workers was led by Ben Fletcher, who organized predominantly African-American longshoremen on the Philadelphia and Baltimore waterfronts, but other leaders included the Swiss immigrant Waler Nef, Jack Walsh, E. F. Doree, and the Spanish sailor Manuel Rey.

The IWW also had a presence among waterfront workers in Boston, New York City, New Orleans, Houston, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Eureka, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, Vancouver as well as in ports in the Caribbean, Mexico, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and other nations.

IWW members played a role in the 1934 San Francisco general strike and the other organizing efforts by rank-and-filers within the International Longshoremen's Association up and down the West Coast.