General Overview
The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) is a labor union representing longshore workers. Originally organized in 1877 by Daniel Keefe as the Association of Lumber Handlers, the union was then renamed the National Longshoremen's Association of the United States in 1892; finally, in 1895, the union adopted its third and final name, the International Longshoremen's Association, in order to reflect the growing number of Canadian members. The same year, the ILA affiliated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Based on accusations of corruption, the ILA was suspended from the AFL in 1953 and replaced by the AFL-sponsored International Brotherhood of Longshoremen (IBL). Rivalry between local ILA loyalists (who began calling themselves the ILA-Independent) and the IBL-AFL persisted for the next several years. In August 1959, the AFL-CIO' recommended re-admittance for the ILA and two months later the IBL officially dissolved itself and re-affiliated with the ILA.
In the early years, in addition to organizing unaffiliated workers, ILA leaders focused on eliminating independent stevedoring firms and securing closed shop contracts. The primary goals of the ILA have remained consistent throughout its existence: Through collective bargaining negotiations, union leaders seek to secure agreements that improve workers' wages and hours, job security, and working and living conditions. Additionally, the union lobbies for labor-related legislation for the benefit of workers in general, and longshoremen in particular.
Similar to most labor unions, the ILA has a hierarchical structure of command, with the International Executive Council situated at the top of the hierarchy, and regional districts overseeing local affiliates. Each district must adopt its own constitution and by-laws that are in accordance with the rules and regulations set forth by the International. Every ILA local is required to affiliate itself with the district organization in which it is located, and is subject to its jurisdiction; however, each local is responsible for drafting its own constitution and by-laws.
Great Lakes District
Before the 1960s, the Great Lakes District's (GLD) locals were autonomous organizations that had little to do with each other or with the International's office in New York. Individual local unions were only concerned with independent action; local union leaders each had their own territorial domain and they bargained with longshore employers (stevedore contractors and terminal operators) on a company-by-company basis. GLD locals even competed with each other for cargo traffic.
In response to the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959, which significantly increased cargo traffic in all Great Lakes ports, the International changed the structure of collective bargaining on the Great Lakes: more uniform longshoring contracts were pursued in order to prevent employers from playing locals against each other, and to prevent locals from competing among themselves for trade. In 1960, despite employer
resistance, the Great Lakes Division of the ILA pushed through a lakes-wide general cargo agreement that secured uniform wage rates for all union employees and a common expiration date in all major general cargo agreements.
Local 815
Motivated by the National Industrial Recovery Act (1933), which allowed workers to organize and bargain collectively, the ILA re-established locals in many Great Lakes ports. Tom Brennan, a union organizer from Chicago, organized the Milwaukee waterfront, thereby establishing the ILA local 815 on September 18, 1934. In addition to organizing Milwaukee longshore laborers who loaded and unloaded ship cargo, local 815 also represented the city's waterfront warehouse workers. And, from 1942 through the early 1970s, the union became the bargaining agent for unskilled workers supplied to inland factories by temporary help agencies. Local 815 also merged with ILA Local 1295 (Milwaukee's grain trimmers) and ILA local 1608 in Muskegon, Michigan, after each local dissolved itself in 1958 and 1961, respectively, and voted for 815 affiliation.
Although local 815 had its share of internal conflicts, it was not affected by the rampant corruption and gangsterism that afflicted other locals, especially those on the East Coast during the 1940s and 1950s. However, from its founding in 1934 until the middle of 1942, local 815 could only be characterized as a problematic union, plagued by a Communist-sympathizing leadership, wildcat strikes, factional infighting, and drunken, pilfering workers. Roused into action by his anti-Communist zeal and general concern for the union's reputation, Milwaukee longshoreman John Brzek led an internal investigation that resulted in the ousting of seven union members accused of having a corrupting influence on the 815. Thus, May 1942 stands as a turning point for the local: with the expulsion of the problematic constituents and the initiation of new leadership, the 815 evolved into an effective bargaining agent for its longshoring members. Moreover, under the leadership of John Brzek, the union was praised for its orderly and fair hiring system and the Port of Milwaukee gained the reputation of a "good service port." The improved reputation of both the local and the city's harbor proved significant: when the St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959, Milwaukee became one of the most important general cargo ports on the Great Lakes.
Operating as local 815's president, secretary-treasurer, business agent, or any combination of the three, Brzek was the unequivocal back-bone of the union until the early 1970s. As such, the majority of this collection-specifically, the materials dating from 1942 through approximately 1972-are, more or less, the records of Brzek's administration of the local, which entailed handling union hiring, safety, production, recordkeeping, grievance processing, and, most importantly, contract negotiation. During the latter half of the 1950s, Brzek also became active in union affairs at the district and international levels, serving both as vice president of the GLD-IBL and vice president of the IBL. Due to changing demographics within the local, more and more members began objecting to Brzek's leadership style during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Brzek's ultimate fall from grace was inevitable, and he retired in 1973, leaving leadership of the 815 in the hands of a younger generation of longshoremen.
