The purpose of this essay is to examine the working world of African-American longshoremen in New York and how they came to terms with racist hiring practices. Some African-American longshoremen retained a degree of institutional freedom with their Jim Crow Local #968, but their inability to control a pier, and thereby guarantee steady work, resulted in a precarious situation of constantly searching for work. Nonetheless, Local 968 acted as a catalyst for direct attacks on their representative trade union and discriminatory employers. As will be seen, not all black longshoremen followed a path of confrontation; some attempted to find an alternative method of obtaining regular work. These longshoremen paid kickbacks, eagerly volunteered to work at a moment's notice, or consistently made themselves available for overtime. For all of these black longshoremen the record was a mixed one: at times successful in changing some hiring policies and union attitudes, at others painfully ignored or chastised for their efforts.
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International Labor and Working-Class History
© 2002 International Labor and Working-Class, Inc.
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