Muscle Memory
By Robert Gumpert and Peter Olney
Organizing takes grit and perseverance. In September of 2005 the George W. Bush US Park Service awarded the Alcatraz concession to Hornblower and dislodged the longstanding operator, Blue And Gold. Blue and Gold is union as are all the other ferry services in the Bay Area. Since 2005 the Alcatraz City Cruises have been non-union. Finally in September of 2022 the Inland Boatmen’s Union of the Pacific, the maritime division of the ILWU won a National Labor Relations Board election 52-11. The union was certified and began negotiations. To date there is no labor contract and on Saturday morning, May 25th about 50 workers – deckhands and captains walked off the job on an Unfair Labor Practice strike protesting the company’s stalling tactics in bargaining; 36 meetings and no contract.
“The cat is out of the bag and now the workers have muscle memory,” said ILWU Northern California Organizer Evan McLaughlin. He explained that once workers take strike action for the first time and feel their power and impunity, the company is now on warning that their operations are constantly under threat of disruption. Management got wind of the strike early and brought in managers to operate the ferries on an emergency basis. Scabbing resulted in some docking issues and delays.
The President of the SF Board of Supervisors, Aaron Peskin, joined the raucous picket. Peskin has announced his candidacy for Mayor of The City. He has been a constant supporter of the Alcatraz workers and the IBU. The workers picketed from 8:30 AM until 12:30 PM.
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