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On Thursday,
July 5, 1934, San Francisco police shot and killed longshoreman Howard
Sperry and a cook, Nick Bordoise, near Steuart and Mission Streets in what
became known as Bloody Thursday. In May of that year, City dock
workers walked off the job, joining a coast-wide strike for better hours
and higher pay for longshoremen, as well as protection against cronyism
and graft. With ship crewmen and Teamsters joining, the strike was effective
and threatened to further cripple the already depressed California economy.
Businesses attempted to circumvent strikers by moving cargo from a rented
warehouse on King Street to Pier 38 with the protection of hundreds of
SFPD officers on July 3. Fighting between police and strikers sent 25 to
the hospital. Two days later, the fighting continued at Rincon Hill where
the killings took place and more than a hundred were injured. Following
Bloody Thursday, the City was beset by a general strike that completely
halted commerce here for three days. After federal arbitration, a system
was created for fair selection of dock workers. A union dispatcher and
hiring hall were also formed. Also as a result of the strike, longshoreman
Harry Bridges was elevated to prominence as a labor leader. A marker
along the Embarcadero with a timeline of events commemorates the general
strike and Bloody Thursday. The renovated
Ferry
Plaza is named in honor of Bridges. |