Today in Labor History May 26, 1851: Stevedores and longshoreman struck in San Francisco. This was the first documented longshore strike in California. They were demanding six dollars per day, which was a lot in those days. However, the gold rush caused massive inflation and six dollars was not much in light of that. They also were fighting for a nine-hour work day and one dollar per hour overtime. In the wake of this successful strike, organizers formed the Riggers’ and Stevedores’ Association.

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