American Dockworkers Fought Apartheid in South Africa
Forty years ago, San Francisco dockworkers struck a blow against apartheid by refusing to unload cargo from South Africa.
12 Article(s) by: Peter Cole
Peter Cole is a professor of history at Western Illinois University and a research associate in the Society, Work and Politics Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.
How American Dockworkers Fought Apartheid in South Africa
Forty years ago today, San Francisco dockworkers struck a blow against apartheid by refusing to unload cargo from South Africa. That kind of international worker solidarity is badly needed today to end Israeli genocide and apartheid.
How San Francisco Longshoremen Made Their Union a Powerhouse
When they started strategically resisting the bosses’ divisive tactics, meeting racism with solidarity, San Francisco longshoremen went “from wharf rats to the lords of the docks.”
When Peoria Banned Paul Robeson
In April 1947, Paul Robeson, the outspoken leftist artist and singer, was barred from performing in Peoria, Illinois. The repressive move, though fought by a radical labor union of black and white workers, prefigured the Red Scare that would soon envelop the country.
To Understand Capitalism, We Have to Understand Shipping and Oil
There is no twenty-first-century capitalism without the shipping and oil industries. And understanding the global economic system means understanding their operation in the Arabian Peninsula.
Building Worker Power on the Docks
Dock workers in San Francisco and Durban, South Africa, have huge amounts of strategic leverage in the global economy. Both have long used that power not just to fight for better wages, but also to fight imperialism and racism.
“War Is for Profit, Workers Can Stop It”
Ten years ago today, West Coast longshore workers celebrated May Day by walking out against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Wobblies of the World, Unite
True to its name, the Industrial Workers of the World spanned the globe — an international history that has long been forgotten.
“She Battled the Capitalists Tooth and Nail”
Labor organizer Ella Reeve Bloor died on this day in 1951. Her life stands as a signpost for all radicals.
Remember the Massacre at Wounded Knee
On this day in 1890, the US Army murdered as many as 300 Native American men, women, and children.
The Secret Struggle Against Apartheid
In the 1960s, a group of leftists risked everything to revive the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.
The Right’s Working-Class Philosopher
Eric Hoffer was a conservative who only had the time to write because he was represented by a powerful leftist union.