On this day in labor history, the year was 1935.
That was the day more than a thousand locked out dockworkers battled police forces in Vancouver, British Columbia in the ‘Battle of Ballantyne Pier.’
The dispute began weeks earlier when the Shipping Federation locked out dockworkers at Powell River, using scabs to load and unload cargo.
Shipping magnates feared Communist leadership had taken over the company unions they established in the 20s.
Workers at other ports in British Columbia now refused to handle Powell River cargo and were locked out.
Hot cargoing was the main issue.
But dockers also demanded higher wages, union recognition and fair dispatching.
The previous year’s West Coast Waterfront strike had put dockworkers everywhere in a fighting mood.
In Vancouver, dockers ousted management lackeys from their union and voted in a radical leadership during a recent election.
Shipping bosses, local politicians and businessmen all cried ‘Bolshevik Menace.’
They formed a Citizens League and prepared for battle.
On this day, striking dockers marched to Ballantyne Pier, where they had been denied the right to picket.
They were determined to stop the scabbing and intended to confront scabs directly.
Led by World War I veteran, Mickey O’Rourke, dockers were abruptly stopped at the pier entrance by Vancouver Police.
Immediately, they were beaten and tear gassed by club-wielding police and despised specials.
Soon British Columbia Provincial Police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police emerged to join in on the assault.
The fighting continued for three hours.
Police horses trampled many as they tried to escape.
Scores were hospitalized and arrested.
The strike dragged on for months and ended in defeat.
But dockers would win the war through ten years of hard, dedicated organizing that culminated with an ILWU charter in 1945.
April 15 - Telephone Girls Cripple New England Bell
April 14 - A Job or Be Sterilized
April 13 - The Colfax Massacre
April 12 - The Wagner Act Stands
April 11 - Fed Up Transit Workers Walk Out
April 10 - Explosion at Eddystone
April 9 - Lee Surrenders to Grant
April 8 - John L. Lewis Takes on Henry Ford
April 7 - Flora Tristan is Born
April 6 - Rose Schneiderman is Born
April 5 - Massey Mine Explodes, pt. 2
April 4 - Massey Mine Explodes, pt. 1
April 3 - Lincoln Freed the Slaves, Ford Brought Them Back
April 2 - Trouble in the Sweetest Place on Earth
April 1 - The Promise of 1946
March 31 - Hospital Workers Stand United
March 30 - 15th Amendment Adopted
March 29 - West Coast Hotel v Parrish Decided
March 28 - Partial Meltdown at Three Mile Island
March 27 - FE Strikers Battle Police at Harvester
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