Harry Bridges
In 1920, a young Australian seaman arrived in San Francisco
. Over the next sixty years, he would have a profound effect on the American labor movement and its relationship with the rest of the world. He would help to create a union with strong democratic principles, ground-breaking benefits for its members, and a belief in social and political action on behalf of workers throughout the world. Accused of being a communist, he would also endure twenty one years of trial and hearings.
By 1933, west coast dock workers felt a growing desperation with the harshness of the Depression and a rising anger at the danger and indignity of working conditions. With the National Industrial Recovery Act, workers for the first time had the right to organize and bargain collectively. Union activism swept the country. On the West coast this union activity led to a bitter strike with pitched battles resulting in injuries and deaths up and down the coast. This battle culminated in the largest 
General Strike in American History and led to a victory for the strikers. Three years later, Harry Bridges became the president of the newly formed International Longshore and Warehouse Union, a post he would hold for the next forty years.
Under Bridges' leadership the the dock workers won control of their hiring halls in 1934. This victory was more than a victory for dock workers, it was a statement of dignity, the day when longshoremen went from being "wharf rats" to "lords of the docks."
Having won control of the hiring halls, Bridges and the ILWU campaigned for further concessions. Beginning in 1937, the ILWU began a campaign that would define the aims and goals of the union for the coming years. They fought to create a union open to all races, religions and political leanings, where the rank and file were impowered and politically active. They worked to insure safe working conditions, secure healthcare benefits for their members and establish pensions to maintain their worker's welfare after retirement. They successfully negotiated for paid holidays and vactions as well as taking a public stand on a wide range of issues from nuclear disarmament and aparthied to fighting for workers rights around the world.
In 1961, faced with the inevitable loss of 
jobs that would result from greater mechanization and computerization of the the docks, the union under Bridges' control fought for and won the "Mechanization and Modernization Agreement." The resultant agreement was a controversial one, upsetting many union members. Yet, the agreement proved that even in times of disagreement members voices would be heard. As Bridges himself liked to say "going to the mike" to speak your mind was an integral part of the ILWU.
Harry Bridges never backed away from controversy. In fact, those who knew him like to say he encouraged it. Whether in the union halls or facing government agents he debated with vigor and passion. Win or lose, his elloquence and passion led even his most ardent opponents to respect him.
Today, his legacy continues. Shortly after his death in 1990, ILWU pensioners and locals raised $1,000,000 to create the Harry Bridges Chair at the University of Washington, the only labor chair in the world. The ILWU continues to fight for their rights and the rights of workers world wide. In 1999, they played a central role in the Seattle, Washington World Trade Organization protests. Finally in July, 2001, the public square in front of San Francisco's Ferry Building was officially named Harry Bridges Plaza to honor a man who had a far reaching impact on the lives of workers everywhere.