WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.819 Welcome in. It is really great to have you here 00:00:02.819 --> 00:00:04.620 with us today. Absolutely. Thanks for being here. 00:00:04.910 --> 00:00:07.490 We've put together a highly custom -tailored 00:00:07.490 --> 00:00:10.289 deep dive just for you today. We know you're 00:00:10.289 --> 00:00:12.810 the kind of person who wants the, you know, the 00:00:12.810 --> 00:00:15.810 really thorough, fascinating details of a subject 00:00:15.810 --> 00:00:18.730 without getting bogged down in all the informational 00:00:18.730 --> 00:00:20.850 noise. Right, skipping the fluff and getting 00:00:20.850 --> 00:00:23.530 straight to the good stuff. Exactly. And today 00:00:23.530 --> 00:00:26.129 we are looking at a truly remarkable piece of 00:00:26.129 --> 00:00:28.649 history. We're analyzing the Marine Workers Industrial 00:00:28.649 --> 00:00:32.210 Union, or the MWIU. Which was this massive... 00:00:32.909 --> 00:00:35.409 globe -spanning maritime union. Yeah, but get 00:00:35.409 --> 00:00:38.149 this. It existed for only five incredibly chaotic 00:00:38.149 --> 00:00:42.170 years from 1930 to 1935. It is a phenomenal subject 00:00:42.170 --> 00:00:44.270 to explore. We're pulling all of our insights 00:00:44.270 --> 00:00:47.329 today from a dense, but frankly, heavily detailed 00:00:47.329 --> 00:00:49.929 Wikipedia article about the union. And our mission 00:00:49.929 --> 00:00:52.310 for this deep dive is to extract the incredible 00:00:52.310 --> 00:00:55.329 story of how rank and file dockhands and sailors 00:00:55.329 --> 00:00:58.329 became, well, the frontline soldiers in a massive 00:00:58.329 --> 00:01:01.210 international geopolitical conflict. But before 00:01:01.210 --> 00:01:03.310 we jump into the timeline, we do need to set 00:01:03.310 --> 00:01:05.510 some ground rules for you. Yeah, very important 00:01:05.510 --> 00:01:08.569 ones. The history we are looking at today involves 00:01:08.569 --> 00:01:12.269 intensely politically charged movements. I mean, 00:01:12.310 --> 00:01:14.109 we are going to be discussing the Communist Party 00:01:14.109 --> 00:01:17.069 USA, Joseph Stalin, and the USSR. So we want 00:01:17.069 --> 00:01:19.489 to be explicitly clear with you right up front. 00:01:19.730 --> 00:01:22.310 We're remaining strictly impartial. Strictly 00:01:22.310 --> 00:01:24.489 impartial. We are not taking sides, and we are 00:01:24.489 --> 00:01:26.769 certainly not endorsing any political ideology. 00:01:27.129 --> 00:01:29.859 Not at all. Our role today is simply to act as 00:01:29.859 --> 00:01:32.420 your guides, reporting the fascinating historical 00:01:32.420 --> 00:01:35.340 facts exactly as they appear in the historical 00:01:35.340 --> 00:01:38.439 records we're working from. Nothing more, nothing 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:40.480 less. Okay, let's unpack this. The narrative 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:42.700 really sparks to life with a man named George 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:46.200 Mink. Right. In 1927, Mink, who is an active 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:49.739 member of the Communist Party USA, the CPUSA, 00:01:49.819 --> 00:01:53.099 travels to the USSR. He makes this journey specifically 00:01:53.099 --> 00:01:55.420 to attend the Fourth Congress of an organization 00:01:55.420 --> 00:01:57.780 called the Profintern. And he comes back to the 00:01:57.780 --> 00:01:59.879 United States with a very clear directive. To 00:01:59.879 --> 00:02:01.739 organize American maritime workers. Exactly. 00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:04.319 He returns as the prof intern's representative 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:06.560 for a group called the Transport Workers International 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:09.400 Committee for Propaganda and Agitation. Which 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:11.560 gives us our first major acronym of the day, 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:16.000 the TWICPNA. Yeah, get ready for an acronym avalanche. 00:02:16.020 --> 00:02:18.740 Oh, absolutely. That era of labor organizing 00:02:18.740 --> 00:02:21.419 is defined by a highly calculated organizational 00:02:21.419 --> 00:02:24.219 pipeline that often looks like, well, like an 00:02:24.219 --> 00:02:26.400 alphabet soup to modern eyes. It really does. 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:28.419 But we don't need you to memorize every single 00:02:28.419 --> 00:02:31.159 letter. No, but it is crucial to understand how 00:02:31.159 --> 00:02:33.919 these groups evolved. So Mink starts with the 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:37.740 TWICP &A. Then he begins working alongside William 00:02:37.740 --> 00:02:40.979 Z. Foster. And Foster runs the Trade Union Educational 00:02:40.979 --> 00:02:44.159 League, the TUL. Right. Think of the TUL as the 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:48.189 ideological incubator here. By 1928, their collaboration 00:02:48.189 --> 00:02:50.889 helps establish the Marine Workers Progressive 00:02:50.889 --> 00:02:53.810 League, the MWPL. Which eventually, after all 00:02:53.810 --> 00:02:56.169 this structural shuffling, leads to the creation 00:02:56.169 --> 00:02:59.490 of the MWIU in 1930. Birthed by yet another overarching 00:02:59.490 --> 00:03:01.900 group. the Trade Union Unity League, or the T 00:03:01.900 --> 00:03:04.439 -U -O -L. So we have this constantly shifting 00:03:04.439 --> 00:03:06.740 landscape of leagues and committees. It's a lot 00:03:06.740 --> 00:03:09.379 to track. It is. And if Mink is tasked with organizing 00:03:09.379 --> 00:03:11.580 the workers on the actual docks, how does he 00:03:11.580 --> 00:03:13.680 navigate that kind of bureaucratic fractured 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:15.919 leadership? What's fascinating here is the underlying 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:18.580 political drama that necessitates all of these 00:03:18.580 --> 00:03:21.379 changing organizations. Right. Between 1928 and 00:03:21.379 --> 00:03:24.939 1929, the Communist Party USA was basically tearing 00:03:24.939 --> 00:03:28.159 itself apart with severe factional infighting. 00:03:28.349 --> 00:03:30.810 You had different ideological camps forming behind 00:03:30.810 --> 00:03:32.990 different prominent leaders. Specifically, James 00:03:32.990 --> 00:03:35.610 P. Cannon, J. Love Stone and William Z. Foster. 00:03:35.870 --> 00:03:38.590 And because the leadership is completely fractured, 00:03:38.590 --> 00:03:41.870 the actual organizing work on the waterfront 00:03:41.870 --> 00:03:44.509 essentially stalls. Yeah. Mink just has to lay 00:03:44.509 --> 00:03:47.729 low. He cannot effectively organize dock workers 00:03:47.729 --> 00:03:50.349 when the national leadership is paralyzed by 00:03:50.349 --> 00:03:52.689 internal power struggles. Which means the workers 00:03:52.689 --> 00:03:54.830 are left waiting for direction while the leadership 00:03:54.830 --> 00:03:57.409 argues in rooms in New York. So how does that 00:03:57.409 --> 00:04:00.270 deadlock finally break? It breaks through direct 00:04:00.270 --> 00:04:03.610 top down intervention. In 1929, Joseph Stalin 00:04:03.610 --> 00:04:05.870 himself steps in. Wow. Yeah. And he officially 00:04:05.870 --> 00:04:07.590 appoints William Z. Foster as the head of the 00:04:07.590 --> 00:04:10.629 CPUSA. So by ending the factional war for Moscow, 00:04:10.889 --> 00:04:14.129 Stalin consolidates power. Exactly. And that 00:04:14.129 --> 00:04:16.589 decision trickles all the way down to the American 00:04:16.589 --> 00:04:20.730 docks. Once Foster is officially in charge, Mink 00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:23.689 finally has the green light to resume his efforts 00:04:23.689 --> 00:04:25.829 with the Marine Workers in earnest. And that 00:04:25.829 --> 00:04:28.610 structural alignment leads directly to a massive 00:04:28.610 --> 00:04:32.750 milestone. On April 26th and 27th of 1930, a 00:04:32.750 --> 00:04:35.269 convention is called in New York by the Marine 00:04:35.269 --> 00:04:37.910 Workers League of New York. Right. This gathering 00:04:37.910 --> 00:04:40.149 is the official birthplace of the Marine Workers 00:04:40.149 --> 00:04:43.389 Industrial Union of the USA. And historical records 00:04:43.389 --> 00:04:45.750 note this wasn't just a sudden gathering. It 00:04:45.750 --> 00:04:48.149 was the culmination of several. coastal conventions 00:04:48.149 --> 00:04:50.810 that have been taking place between 1928 and 00:04:50.810 --> 00:04:54.089 1930. The 1930 convention in New York is critical 00:04:54.089 --> 00:04:56.329 because it formalized their entire operation. 00:04:56.610 --> 00:04:58.230 I mean, they adopted an official constitution. 00:04:58.750 --> 00:05:01.550 They took a very public stance, openly supporting 00:05:01.550 --> 00:05:04.629 the USSR. Furthermore, they elected three delegates 00:05:04.629 --> 00:05:06.769 to attend the Fifth World Congress of the Red 00:05:06.769 --> 00:05:09.129 International of Labor Unions, also known as 00:05:09.129 --> 00:05:11.829 the Profintern. Right. And just to trace that 00:05:11.829 --> 00:05:13.990 hierarchy for you, the profintern itself was 00:05:13.990 --> 00:05:15.970 the labor arm of the Communist International 00:05:15.970 --> 00:05:19.449 or the Comintern. The idea of a convention in 00:05:19.449 --> 00:05:22.779 New York City. directly electing delegates to 00:05:22.779 --> 00:05:25.519 send across the world to a Soviet -aligned Congress. 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.759 That is a sharp departure from traditional localized 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:31.620 trade unionism. It really is. The records show 00:05:31.620 --> 00:05:35.139 the MWIU omenly affiliated with the Trade Union 00:05:35.139 --> 00:05:38.279 Unity League, the TUL, though there's another 00:05:38.279 --> 00:05:40.699 historical account suggesting they actually bypassed 00:05:40.699 --> 00:05:43.399 the TUL entirely. Yes, and affiliated directly 00:05:43.399 --> 00:05:46.120 with the Profitern's Red International of Transport 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:48.720 Workers. Right, and that alternative affiliation 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:50.870 path was routed through an organization called 00:05:50.870 --> 00:05:52.810 the International Seamen and Harbors Workers 00:05:52.810 --> 00:05:56.269 Union, or the ISH, which operated out of Hamburg, 00:05:56.470 --> 00:05:58.689 Germany. Regardless of which exact paperwork 00:05:58.689 --> 00:06:01.670 path they took, the core alignment is undeniable. 00:06:01.870 --> 00:06:03.930 They're actively plugging American dock workers 00:06:03.930 --> 00:06:06.790 directly into a massive, globally coordinated 00:06:06.790 --> 00:06:09.149 apparatus. Here's where it gets really interesting. 00:06:09.370 --> 00:06:11.649 Let's analyze the geographical footprint of this 00:06:11.649 --> 00:06:13.589 union. It's massive. When we think of a trade 00:06:13.589 --> 00:06:16.170 union in the 1930s, the assumption is usually 00:06:16.170 --> 00:06:18.370 a regional operation, right? Like a local chapter. 00:06:18.529 --> 00:06:21.269 Sure, normally. The logistics required to maintain 00:06:21.269 --> 00:06:24.810 the MWIU's network in an era before digital communication 00:06:24.810 --> 00:06:28.490 are incredibly complex. It completely redefines 00:06:28.490 --> 00:06:30.790 the logistical boundaries of what a union could 00:06:30.790 --> 00:06:32.610 attempt to be at that time. They set up their 00:06:32.610 --> 00:06:34.970 headquarters at 410 Broad Street in New York 00:06:34.970 --> 00:06:37.889 City. And from there, they established a domestic 00:06:37.889 --> 00:06:41.129 presence that hit almost every major coast. Buffalo. 00:06:41.709 --> 00:06:44.490 Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, 00:06:44.709 --> 00:06:47.290 Houston, San Pedro, San Francisco, Sacramento 00:06:47.290 --> 00:06:49.730 and Seattle. I mean, that alone requires immense 00:06:49.730 --> 00:06:53.089 coordination. But how did they push this beyond 00:06:53.089 --> 00:06:55.490 the American borders? If we connect this to the 00:06:55.490 --> 00:06:58.459 bigger picture. The overseas presence reveals 00:06:58.459 --> 00:07:01.920 the true strategic ambition of the MWRU. They 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:04.500 didn't just stay in the U .S. Not at all. They 00:07:04.500 --> 00:07:07.860 established overseas offices in London, Newcastle, 00:07:07.860 --> 00:07:10.879 Bordeaux, Copenhagen, Antwerp, Hamburg, Bremen, 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:13.839 Leningrad, Archangel, and Vladivostok. Having 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:16.500 active outposts and strategic global choke points 00:07:16.500 --> 00:07:18.519 like Hamburg and Vladivostok, that means they 00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:20.180 weren't just thinking about American labor disputes. 00:07:20.279 --> 00:07:22.819 They were looking at the entire board. Precisely. 00:07:23.079 --> 00:07:26.180 Operating in major global ports meant they were 00:07:26.180 --> 00:07:29.180 actively attempting to organize across the primary 00:07:29.180 --> 00:07:31.740 international shipping lanes. They leaned heavily 00:07:31.740 --> 00:07:34.600 into that affiliation with the ISH in Germany. 00:07:34.779 --> 00:07:37.060 They viewed the struggles of the marine workers 00:07:37.060 --> 00:07:41.279 not as isolated local disputes over hourly wages, 00:07:41.459 --> 00:07:44.399 but as interconnected battles within a global 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:47.180 ideological framework. And to keep that sprawling 00:07:47.180 --> 00:07:50.199 network connected, they utilized their own publication, 00:07:50.600 --> 00:07:52.639 the Marine Workers Voice. Which they inherited 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:55.040 from the Marine Workers League of the TUL. Right. 00:07:55.139 --> 00:07:57.420 But beyond the publications and the international 00:07:57.420 --> 00:08:00.339 offices, the organization was driven by some 00:08:00.339 --> 00:08:03.000 highly compelling figures. We mentioned George 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:06.000 Mink, but the union was shaped by a variety of 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:08.459 distinct personalities. You had Roy Hudson serving 00:08:08.459 --> 00:08:11.949 as the national MWIU secretary. and Al Lannan 00:08:11.949 --> 00:08:14.470 working as an organizer. You also see the early 00:08:14.470 --> 00:08:16.110 involvement of figures who would later become 00:08:16.110 --> 00:08:18.810 massive names in the broader American labor movement. 00:08:18.970 --> 00:08:22.389 Like Joe Curran. Exactly. Joe Curran was an MWIU 00:08:22.389 --> 00:08:24.329 member who eventually went on to become the president 00:08:24.329 --> 00:08:26.769 of the National Maritime Union, or the NMU. Hayes 00:08:26.769 --> 00:08:28.850 Jones was another member who later became the 00:08:28.850 --> 00:08:31.389 editor of The Lake, the newsletter for the NMU. 00:08:31.509 --> 00:08:33.370 And Ferdinand Smith was also a prominent member 00:08:33.370 --> 00:08:35.950 during this time. But it wasn't a perfect monolith 00:08:35.950 --> 00:08:39.419 either. The records show internal friction. Like 00:08:39.419 --> 00:08:42.320 organizer Harry Hines explicitly disagreeing 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:45.379 with another key figure, Samuel Adams Darcy. 00:08:45.460 --> 00:08:47.840 It paints a picture of a complex organization 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:51.139 made up of very passionate, sometimes conflicting 00:08:51.139 --> 00:08:54.500 personalities trying to steer a massive ship. 00:08:54.789 --> 00:08:56.929 Which is exactly the reality of trying to unite 00:08:56.929 --> 00:09:00.129 thousands of independent, fiercely strong -willed 00:09:00.129 --> 00:09:03.330 maritime workers under a highly rigid ideological 00:09:03.330 --> 00:09:05.950 banner. There will always be tension between 00:09:05.950 --> 00:09:08.070 the theoretical directives coming from the top 00:09:08.070 --> 00:09:10.710 and the practical realities the organizers face 00:09:10.710 --> 00:09:12.610 on the ground. And that tension between ideology 00:09:12.610 --> 00:09:14.950 and reality brings us to the official slogan 00:09:14.950 --> 00:09:18.350 of the MWIU. This is a crucial point. This is 00:09:18.350 --> 00:09:20.389 where their political framework meets the concrete 00:09:20.389 --> 00:09:23.470 reality of the 1930s waterfront. Their official 00:09:23.470 --> 00:09:26.690 slogan. was, quote, full economic, social and 00:09:26.690 --> 00:09:29.769 political equality for whites, Negroes and Asiatics, 00:09:29.909 --> 00:09:33.429 end quote. We really need to properly contextualize 00:09:33.429 --> 00:09:37.090 that statement to understand its weight. In the 00:09:37.090 --> 00:09:40.809 early 1930s, the United States was deeply systemically 00:09:40.809 --> 00:09:43.809 segregated. Yes. To have a labor union put down 00:09:43.809 --> 00:09:46.350 in writing as their primary official slogan, 00:09:46.470 --> 00:09:50.110 a demand for radical, total economic, social 00:09:50.110 --> 00:09:53.210 and political racial equality was fiercely progressive. 00:09:53.799 --> 00:09:56.320 It challenged the fundamental societal structure 00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:59.799 of the era. They are demanding a complete restructuring 00:09:59.799 --> 00:10:02.500 of societal equality on the waterfront. But writing 00:10:02.500 --> 00:10:04.799 a progressive slogan in a New York office is 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:07.100 very different from enforcing it. Right. This 00:10:07.100 --> 00:10:09.700 raises an important question. How did these grand 00:10:09.700 --> 00:10:12.179 progressive ideals and these massive international 00:10:12.179 --> 00:10:15.120 affiliations actually translate to the physical 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:17.840 docks? Did they remain purely theoretical? Or 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:20.740 did the MWIU prove capable of taking direct action? 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:23.100 While the historical accounts show they absolutely 00:10:23.100 --> 00:10:25.419 took direct action, the most prominent gamble 00:10:25.419 --> 00:10:28.700 is the massive 1934 West Coast waterfront strike. 00:10:28.899 --> 00:10:31.639 A defining, brutal labor battle of the era. And 00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:34.440 the MWIU was deeply involved. Crucially, they 00:10:34.440 --> 00:10:36.500 didn't isolate themselves. They joined forces 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:38.500 on the picket lines with other major groups. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:40.799 Specifically, the International Seaman's Union 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:44.259 and the Marine Transport Workers. The MTW, which 00:10:44.259 --> 00:10:46.080 was a branch of the Industrial Workers of the 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:49.220 World, or the IWW. That operational collaboration 00:10:49.220 --> 00:10:52.610 is a vital detail. It demonstrates that despite 00:10:52.610 --> 00:10:55.470 their specific Soviet affiliations and their 00:10:55.470 --> 00:10:59.210 origins in CPUSA factionalism, when it came time 00:10:59.210 --> 00:11:01.750 to fight for the actual workers on the docks 00:11:01.750 --> 00:11:05.240 in 1934, they were willing... and able to stand 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:08.779 shoulder to shoulder with other major non -communist 00:11:08.779 --> 00:11:11.600 labor organizations. They successfully mobilized 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:13.639 their members, people like Joe Curran, Hayes 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:16.419 Jones, and Ferdinand Smith, to hold the line 00:11:16.419 --> 00:11:18.620 during one of the most pentious, high -stakes 00:11:18.620 --> 00:11:20.679 strikes in American history. It was a crucible 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:22.779 that shaped future labor leaders. So they build 00:11:22.779 --> 00:11:25.679 this massive momentum. By 1935, they have grown 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:28.779 to 14 ,000 members. They have established a logistical 00:11:28.779 --> 00:11:30.919 network from Sacramento to the Soviet Union. 00:11:31.230 --> 00:11:33.529 They have just helped execute a historic West 00:11:33.529 --> 00:11:36.330 Coast strike. They appear to be a rising powerhouse 00:11:36.330 --> 00:11:38.529 in maritime labor. So what does this all mean? 00:11:38.690 --> 00:11:40.830 Where does this trajectory take them? It takes 00:11:40.830 --> 00:11:42.830 them to one of the most sudden, controversial 00:11:42.830 --> 00:11:47.049 endings in labor history. In 1935, just five 00:11:47.049 --> 00:11:49.490 years after that ambitious founding convention 00:11:49.490 --> 00:11:53.389 in New York, the MWIU is abruptly terminated. 00:11:53.529 --> 00:11:56.490 Out of nowhere. Roy Hudson, the ranking MWIU 00:11:56.490 --> 00:11:59.529 official and national secretary, single -handedly 00:11:59.529 --> 00:12:02.090 dissolves the union. He dissolves an organization 00:12:02.090 --> 00:12:05.929 of 14 ,000 active workers entirely on his own 00:12:05.929 --> 00:12:08.190 authority. Without a single vote from the membership. 00:12:08.389 --> 00:12:11.029 There is no convention called to discuss it, 00:12:11.070 --> 00:12:14.490 no democratic process, and no ballot cast. He 00:12:14.490 --> 00:12:17.990 simply ends it. Immediately after the dissolution, 00:12:18.210 --> 00:12:20.590 the International Seaman's Union of America succeeds 00:12:20.590 --> 00:12:23.370 to it, effectively absorbing the remnants of 00:12:23.370 --> 00:12:25.919 the organization. The profound irony of this 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:28.299 conclusion is staggering. Think back to their 00:12:28.299 --> 00:12:30.480 foundational principles. This was an organization 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:32.720 that campaigned on a slogan of radical equality 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:35.220 for all workers. Right. They fought for the voice 00:12:35.220 --> 00:12:37.240 and the rights of the everyday sailor and docker. 00:12:37.379 --> 00:12:40.620 And yet their ultimate fate was decided overnight 00:12:40.620 --> 00:12:43.840 in a completely top -down authoritarian maneuver 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:46.919 by a single official. The rank -and -file members, 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:50.019 all 14 ,000 of them who stood on the picket lines, 00:12:50.259 --> 00:12:53.700 had absolutely no say in the termination of their 00:12:53.700 --> 00:12:57.059 own union. Building a grassroots, globe -spanning 00:12:57.059 --> 00:13:00.200 organization demanding equality only to dismantle 00:13:00.200 --> 00:13:02.700 it with the stroke of a pen from the top fundamentally 00:13:02.700 --> 00:13:05.379 changes how we view their operational structure. 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:08.440 It perfectly illustrates the complex, inherently 00:13:08.440 --> 00:13:10.860 contradictory nature of these ideologically driven 00:13:10.860 --> 00:13:14.059 organizations during this era. Hudson didn't 00:13:14.059 --> 00:13:15.940 just wake up and arbitrarily decide to end the 00:13:15.940 --> 00:13:18.259 union. No, it was calculated. This move reflects 00:13:18.259 --> 00:13:20.940 how heavily tethered local American labor was 00:13:20.940 --> 00:13:23.299 to the shifting global strategies of their international 00:13:23.299 --> 00:13:25.759 affiliates. The directives from the top leadership, 00:13:26.059 --> 00:13:28.820 whether in New York or Moscow, superseded any 00:13:28.820 --> 00:13:31.080 democratic input from the actual workers who 00:13:31.080 --> 00:13:33.139 made up the lifeblood of the union. When the 00:13:33.139 --> 00:13:35.580 broader strategic priorities shifted, the MWIU 00:13:35.580 --> 00:13:37.779 was simply erased from the board. But despite 00:13:37.779 --> 00:13:40.340 that abrupt and highly controversial end, the 00:13:40.340 --> 00:13:43.330 echoes of the MWIU have lasted for decades. In 00:13:43.330 --> 00:13:47.070 1963, a man named Nelson Bruce helped found the 00:13:47.070 --> 00:13:49.590 Marine Workers Historical Association. And a 00:13:49.590 --> 00:13:52.049 key part of that association's work was actively 00:13:52.049 --> 00:13:55.649 preserving the records of the MWIU. That preservation 00:13:55.649 --> 00:13:58.509 is vital for understanding an organization that 00:13:58.509 --> 00:14:00.830 was dismantled so quickly and quietly from the 00:14:00.830 --> 00:14:02.669 top. We also have critical personal accounts 00:14:02.669 --> 00:14:05.659 that survived. In 1980, the American writer George 00:14:05.659 --> 00:14:09.100 Morris recorded an extensive oral history detailing 00:14:09.100 --> 00:14:12.179 his own recollections of the MWIU during that 00:14:12.179 --> 00:14:15.600 monumental 1934 strike. Primary sources like 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.360 that allow us to understand the granular reality 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:21.220 of the movement far beyond the high -level political 00:14:21.220 --> 00:14:23.779 maneuvering. And perhaps the most tangible piece 00:14:23.779 --> 00:14:26.840 of their legacy exists right now. Today, the 00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:29.440 Industrial Workers of the World, the IWW, operates 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:31.539 a union that bears almost the exact same name. 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:33.200 It's called the Marine Workers Industrial... 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:36.399 Union 51. It serves as a living echo of that 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:39.419 original 1930 convention. It proves that while 00:14:39.419 --> 00:14:42.299 the Soviet -aligned political structure of the 00:14:42.299 --> 00:14:45.720 1930s NWIU was highly temporary, the underlying 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:48.179 demand for that kind of fierce industrial maritime 00:14:48.179 --> 00:14:50.820 organization never truly disappeared from the 00:14:50.820 --> 00:14:53.960 waterfront. It is an unbelievable narrative to 00:14:53.960 --> 00:14:56.779 trace. We are looking at a five -year experiment 00:14:56.779 --> 00:15:00.200 that completely defied standard labor union boundaries. 00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:03.120 They gathered 14 ,000 workers. They stretched 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:05.539 their physical presence across the Atlantic and 00:15:05.539 --> 00:15:07.860 the Pacific. They championed fiercely progressive 00:15:07.860 --> 00:15:11.480 racial equality during the segregated 1930s. 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:14.100 And then, at the height of their momentum, they 00:15:14.100 --> 00:15:16.860 vanished overnight without a single ballot ever 00:15:16.860 --> 00:15:19.379 being cast by the workers themselves. For you? 00:15:19.850 --> 00:15:22.549 As someone who seeks to understand the deep undercurrents 00:15:22.549 --> 00:15:24.470 of history rather than just the surface level 00:15:24.470 --> 00:15:27.450 events, this deep dive is incredibly valuable. 00:15:27.649 --> 00:15:30.330 Exactly. It serves as a stark reminder that local 00:15:30.330 --> 00:15:32.750 movements and the everyday jobs of everyday people 00:15:32.750 --> 00:15:36.169 are frequently tied directly to massive sweeping 00:15:36.169 --> 00:15:39.289 currents of global geopolitics. An American sailor 00:15:39.289 --> 00:15:41.389 striking for better conditions in San Francisco 00:15:41.389 --> 00:15:44.789 in 1934 was simultaneously a participant in a 00:15:44.789 --> 00:15:47.610 local labor dispute and a piece in a much larger 00:15:47.610 --> 00:15:51.220 ideological chess match. involving CPUSA factionalism 00:15:51.220 --> 00:15:53.620 and the shifting global priorities of the common 00:15:53.620 --> 00:15:55.840 term. The local reality and the global strategy 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:58.659 are always intricately intertwined. That deep 00:15:58.659 --> 00:16:01.720 interconnection is exactly why we wanted to extract 00:16:01.720 --> 00:16:04.399 this story for you today. We want to leave you 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:07.200 with one final provocative thought to mull over 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:10.139 as you go about your day. We have just examined 00:16:10.139 --> 00:16:14.200 how an organization of 14 ,000 dedicated, striking 00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:17.720 workers spread across the globe could be completely 00:16:17.720 --> 00:16:21.019 dissolved overnight by a single individual without 00:16:21.019 --> 00:16:23.580 a Democratic vote. If that kind of overnight 00:16:23.580 --> 00:16:26.740 erasure is possible, how secure are the modern 00:16:26.740 --> 00:16:29.399 institutions and structures that we blindly assume 00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:31.679 are permanent today? It certainly challenges 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:33.899 our assumptions about the durability of the organizations 00:16:33.899 --> 00:16:36.240 we rely on. Thank you for joining us on this 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:38.700 deep dive. We thoroughly enjoyed analyzing this 00:16:38.700 --> 00:16:41.240 dense, fascinating history for you, and we hope 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:43.059 you walk away with a totally new perspective 00:16:43.059 --> 00:16:45.700 on the invisible frameworks that tie our local 00:16:45.700 --> 00:16:47.940 world to global history. We will catch you next 00:16:47.940 --> 00:16:48.259 time.