Following the collapse of a new six-year contract, 45,000 port workers representing the International Longshoremen's Alliance (ILA) across various East Coast and Gulf Coast ports launched a strike this week. The root causes of the negotiation breakdown included a significant pay increase alongside protections from automation as shipping companies recorded record profits year-over-year. According to reports, the strike could cost the national economy as much as $5 billion daily. Black longshoremen currently comprise 15 percent of workers stateside in the industry while holding the lowest average salary at $28,774 compared to other racial demographics. 

Historically, Black longshoremen have been instrumental in the industry since slavery. During Antebellum slavery, Blacks worked the most dangerous and strenuous jobs as stevedores. Following the Emancipation Proclamation, many newly freed longshoremen fought for better conditions and used their collective power to form unions like the Longshoremen's Protective Union Association in 1868. 

In Charleston, North Carolina, Black longshoremen who attempted to strike were met with calls of being lazy ex-slaves who poor whites could replace. Banning together, they would create the Longshoremen’s Protective Union Association of Charleston a year later.   More recently, in 2018, 19 members of the ILA were arrested in Charleston after a rally and two-block march over demands for a living, union rights for all workers, and additional education funding. The protests were also aimed at fighting other issues, including militarism, poverty, and racism. Anyone who has followed the ILA over the decades will know that this isn’t new to the largest union of maritime workers in North America who shut down ports in honor of Martin Luther King following his assassination in 1968. 

Longshoremen labor movements for Blacks historically revolved around fair pay and better working conditions but also combating racism. In New Orleans during the late 1800s, Black longshoremen union workers attempted to work alongside white union workers. The power dynamic led to racial tensions that escalated into the 1895 New Orleans Dockworkers Riot. A racially motivated attack on nonunion Black dockworkers by white dockworkers over four days left six Black laborers dead at the hands of several hundred white men. Then Louisiana governor Murphy J. Foster even called on the state militia to protect Black dockworkers.

Around a century prior, James Forten became one of the first Black business owners in Philadelphia when he took over Robert Bridges’ sailmaking company in 1798. Not only did he hire several dozen men who were mostly black, Forten was also a known abolitionist who wrote letters under the name “A Coloured Philadelphian.” Most of his writings revolved around the oppression of Black people, abolition, and opposition of the American Colonization Society, which was a white-led organization that wanted to ship free Black people back to Africa. Forten, alongside other Black businessmen who worked on the ports, helped transport Philly’s waterfront into a social hub.

Unions like the Marine Transport Workers of Philadelphia and the American Federation of Labor also served as safe spaces for Black Shoremen and other minority groups in the city during the early 1900s, thanks to individuals like Ben Fletcher. When Fletcher wasn’t working in several Philly-based ports, he lobbied for Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in cities including New England, Canada, and various areas of the South. 

Putting himself in danger of arrest or lynching, Fletcher recruited union members and passed out information as the IWW’s biggest mouthpiece. Alongside other members of the IWW called “Wobblies,” he was arrested and placed in prison following anti-sedition laws passed during World War I. President Franklin D. Roosevelt pardoned him in 1933 following his release ten years prior.  

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, dockworkers placed themselves in great danger in maintaining the global supply chain. Since then, many dockworkers have spotlighted fairer wages alongside safer working conditions. Most importantly, the rise of artificial intelligence and automation threatens manual labor jobs, which will affect Black people. This is why negotiations between dockworkers and port authorities are important, as a long term strike can have catastrophic effects on the economy. 

Black people have been at the forefront of various labor movements in America throughout history. Dockworkers aren’t any different. They’ve fought against various injustices at the cost of their economic well-being and sometimes their lives. Though historically marginalized, Black dockworkers have continued to pave the way for rights that not only helped them.