"1934: BLOOD AND ROSES"
by
Charles Deemer
Songs by the Portland Labor Players
3550 SW Pomona St.
Portland, OR 97219-7518
charles@charlesdeemer.com
(AT RISE: all players on stage for opening song.)
OPENING SONG: Have you heard the news / Isn't it somethin' / Don't it make you
shake / Shiver and moan? / There's so many folks / Livin' on nothin' / Takes some
nerve to be / On your own // Never seen so many men just standin' round / standin'
in the doorways, standin' in the rain / askin' for a minute, askin' for the time / askin'
for a Camel, askin' for some change // Hey let's say you're lucky / you find work, /
so you work straight through / day and a half, / Get no sick pay, hey buddy, / no time
off; / and vacation... / don't make me laugh! // Never heard of anything like this
before; / somethin's gotta give and somethin' pretty quick. / What is it you're
plannin', Franklin Delano? / Somethin' gotta give -- and we have given it! // Check
the classifieds / in the mornin' / Takes a lucky break / luck's been bad / Sure, a job's
a great / thing to be havin' / Well, the job's been great: / we've been had!
NARRATOR: (stepping forward to audience) Have you been reading your local
newspaper? Or do you get your news from the TV? It may look like a beauty shot,
but the news is still depressing! (Opens paper and reads a headline) Now I'll bet
some of you who are younger are wondering why a nation as rich as ours finds itself
in such bad times. Made you a little nervous, and confused, when news of a
recession came along? And others of you, if you are old enough, became fearful that
we were heading for another Great Depression. The first one was enough for one
lifetime.
THE TIMES: (coming on as Newsboy) Extree, extree, read all about it! Market
crashes! Extree!
NARRATOR: October, 1929. Were you there? Will you forget it? I won't.
THE TIMES: Market crashes -- panic hits nation! Extree, extree!
(Narrator moves aside and Jake comes forward.)
JAKE: Boy? What's that?
THE TIMES: The stock market has crashed, mister. They're saying everybody is
going to be broke.
JAKE: Gimme a paper.
(Jake reads the news as the Times moves off.)
THE TIMES: Extree, read all about it! Market crashes, panic hits nation!
JAKE: Them headline writers, they always exaggerate. It says right here below,
"Leaders confer, find economic conditions sound." Crash, my foot!
(He moves off.)
2.
NARRATOR: Oh, there was guarded optimism at first. Bankers pledged their
confidence and support. President Hoover was his usual optimistic self. Not that he
gave any fireside chats, or anything like that, but he did come on the radio to assure
the nation that the economy was under control. He didn't want folks to get nervous
and panic.
THE TIMES: (on radio, as announcer) And now a commercial message.
MARY: (as radio character) Deep sea diving takes healthy nerves -- and so does
my office job!
THE TIMES: The voice of Miss Elizabeth Harber of Garden City, Long Island.
MARY: I know that deep sea diving calls for healthy nerves but, believe me, you
can also feel plenty of real nerve strain being a secretary to a busy office executive.
Telephone callers, dictation, and a million other demands all take their toll. As to
smoking, I smoke a great deal but I'm careful in the choice of my cigarette. I prefer
Camels. They don't make my nerves jumpy, and I like their flavor better.
THE TIMES: How are your nerves? Do you responsibilities give you that dragged
through a knot hole feeling? Whatever your job or place in life, healthy nerves are
worth any effort. Check up on your habits -- your eating, sleeping, recreation; and
don't overlook the subject of smoking. Turn to Camels -- for your nerves.
NARRATOR: Yes, folks were walking miles for a Camel -- back then. I'm not sure
it was helping their nerves any. Pretty soon they'd be walking miles looking for a job.
MARY: (on radio) The President of the United States, the honorable Herbert Hoover.
(Mary, Jake and Narrator sing "dum dum de dum", Hail to the Chief.)
SAM: (as Hoover) I have asked for radio time to assure you that the business
climate of this great nation is on a sound basis.
THE TIMES: Extree, extree! Sixteen leading stocks fall two billion dollars
overnight! Read all about it!
SAM: And so I pledge to you tonight that as we continue to move forward with the
policies of the last eight years--
THE TIMES: Stock prices still falling! Banks close doors!
SAM: --that soon, with the help of God, we will be within sight of that glorious day
when poverty will be banned from this great nation.
THE TIMES: Slump continues in nationwide stampede to unload! Extree, read all
about it!
3.
SAM: Just as the great dam we are now building on the Colorado River will one day
hold back the great forces of nature and put them under control, so will American
business hold back the tide of these temporary setbacks on Wall Street and keep our
great economy under control.
RUTH: (as man on the street) Damn Hoover's Dam!
NARRATOR: We learned soon and sadly enough that Hoover was trying to stop
the flood by plugging up the dike with his finger -- first one finger, then another
finger, then another and another -- he was going to run out of fingers pretty quick.
(Ruth, Jake, Mary, The Times and Narrator sing.)
SONG: (chorus) 0O Damn Hoover's Dam Hoover's Dam Hoover's Dam / It's got to
many lakes and it's flooding out the land / And Hoover's gone asailing, he says that
things are fine / So why is everybody asking, "Can you spare a dime?"
VERSE 1: O pity Mr. Hoover / Who stands out in the storm / Trying to convince us
/ That nothing has gone wrong / So what, the banks are closing? / So what, the jobs
are few? / I'll build a dam to hold the tide / And save my country, too. CHORUS
VERSE 2: Jack rabbits are for dinner / We call them Hoover Hogs / Hoover
blankets are the dailies / That wouldn't warm a dog / You think I drive a car? / A
Hoover Wagon, with a mule / This is the Hoover flag I wear (waving empty
pockets) / A fine red, white and blue. CHORUS
(All leave but narrator.)
NARRATOR: The times got worse -- and worse. And of course you know it was
the working people who suffered most. Soon folks started to look for ways to help
themselves, since the government was making such a mess of things. This was as
true on the docks of Portland as anywhere else.
(Mary, Sam, Jake and Ruth enter and take their places on opposite sides of the stage,
representing the living rooms of two couples.)
NARRATOR: (as Ruth finishes dialing phone) Ting-a-ling. Ting-a-ling.
MARY: I'll get it, Sam. ... Hello?
RUTH: Mary, this is Ruth.
MARY: I was just thinking about you. Sam, it's Ruthie.
SAM: Ask her if Jake is working regular.
RUTH: I'm calling to see if you and Sam are coming to the meeting tomorrow.
Paddy Morris is going to speak.
4.
MARY: I'm not sure.
RUTH: Paddy's going to talk about organizing again.
MARY: Well, let me ask Sam if we have plans.
RUTH: I think it's important to hear what he has to say, Mary.
MARY: Just a minute. ... Ruthie says Paddy Morris is speaking at the meeting
tomorrow.
SAM: I knew something was up. Count me out.
MARY: It's just to listen to what he has to say.
SAM: I know what he has to say.
MARY: What do I tell her?
SAM: Tell her that organizing in '22 didn't get us beans. They beat us then and
they'll beat us today. The owners've got the docks under their thumb, and that's all
there is to it. (to audience) Sure, I know what you're thinking. That I got no class
conscience, that I'm a sissle bell like the Wobblies say. Well, answer me this. How's
my kids to eat? How's Mary and me to eat? How're we to keep groceries in the
cupboards and ice box? You know what it takes to get work on the docks any more?
A bottle of whiskey. I take a bottle of the best to the fink hall and slip it to the gang
boss. Then I go to work. Sure, it stinks, but it beats not working. That's just the way
the system works.
MARY: Ruthie? I just plumb forgot that I told mother we'd see her tomorrow and I
know she'll expect us to stay for dinner. She doesn't get out much in the winter time
and--
RUTH: Are you and Sam for us or against us, Mary?
JAKE: I told you Sam was a fink.
MARY: It's hard times for all of us, Ruthie. Please try and understand.
RUTH: There's only one thing I understand any more -- either you're for us or
against us. (to audience) Sure, the longshore strike in '22 was a failure. We lost
everything we fought for. But that doesn't mean we're not right. I see Jake
overworked, if he works at all, and underpaid. It makes me sick. I'd rather see him
buried six foot under than crawling on his belly for crumbs.
5.
JAKE: (to audience) I mean there's limits to what a guy can put up with. I see them
owners sailing out in the Willamette in the summertime, and there's supposed to be
a depression going on. I'm busting my butt for 75 cents an hour and can't even get
that unless I bribe the gang boss.
RUTH: Longshore families got a right.
JAKE: We got a right to a decent life.
(Song by Ruth and Jake:)
JAKE: Fifteen bucks a week
RUTH: How can we make it?
JAKE: And a strike could mean losing that, too
BOTH SING: Hey, but what's to lose when you got nothin'? / Only thing that's left
is what you must do.
NARRATOR: All across the nation folks was trying to figure out a way to make a
better life than the times, the Great Depression, was giving them.
(All actors onstage for meeting.)
JAKE: We got Paddy Morris with us tonight, folks, and he has a few words to say.
Paddy.
RUTH: (as Paddy) Paddy Morris is me name, in case we haven't met. I'm not the
kind to blow steam so I'll get right to the point. We got to organize. I don't have to
tell you what conditions on the docks is here in Portland, most of you been here
longer than me. Well, conditions ain't going to improve unless we improve them
ourselves, and that means organizing. We got to organize our own union. Sure, we
got a company union, but you know who pulls the strings there. The owners. We
need a union by and for the working stiffs. Failing in '22 makes it all the more
important that we don't fail this time. We need solidarity.
JAKE: Put my name down, Paddy!
RUTH: Who else wants to put their name down for the union?
SONG: Put my name down, Buddy / Where do I sign? / I'm gonna back the ILA /
Right down the line. / I'm gonna join the ILA / for a better life with better pay /
Buddy, won't you put my name down? // I've been working on the Portland docks / I
thought you know'd / I've been working on the cargo gang / with a heavy load / We
load 'em up, haul 'em away / for an hour's work not a dollar's pay / I've been working
on the Portland docks, Lord
6.
NARRATOR: It wasn't easy to put your name down for the union in those days.
The union hadn't won much yet, ever. And there was a lot of suspicion in the air
about the reds. Folks still remembered the foreigners accused of being reds after
World War I. How a lot of them were deported, right out of the country. They didn't
want no Russian Red meddling in our affairs. No siree.
(The radio is on in Sam and Mary's living room.)
THE TIMES: (as radio) Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? What
graft and deals are hidden by cigar smoke in the backrooms of America? Who
knows why things happen as they do? The Shadow knows ...
MARY: Turn off the radio, honey, and talk to me. Something's eating you.
SAM: They're setting themselves up for a fall.
MARY: Who is?
SAM: The guys. Paddy's got 700 signed up so far. They make you feel left out if
you ain't with them, and all they're doing is setting themselves up for the fall. It's the
damn reds confusing everything.
MARY: Everybody has to do what they think is best.
SAM: I think Paddy's a red himself. He ain't American. He's Irish.
MARY: Are you going to the hall today?
SAM: Yeah. Listen -- that roast you was saving for my birthday. I think I'll take it. I
can't take Billy no bottle til my check next week and seeing meat's getting so scarce--
MARY: You can't take food out of this house when we barely got enough to get by.
SAM: It's been a month since I gave Billy a bottle. He's looking at me funny, and I
haven't been put on a gang all week.
MARY: It's bad enough to have to give him liquor. You're not emptying our ice box
for him to boot.
SAM: It's a bunch of reds confusing everything.
MARY: Well, at least they're trying. I don't see anybody else interested in helping us.
SAM: You're for the reds?
MARY: I'm for putting food on the table!
7.
NARRATOR: There were reds involved all right, but not all of them were foreigners.
As Harry Bridges once said, "A red is anybody who wants a nickel more than the
boss is willing to pay."
THE TIMES: (on radio) NBC News. Today Walter Waters of Portland, Oregon,
announced a veteran's march on the nation's capitol. The veterans are demanding
immediate payment of the bonus checks Congress voted them, money that was to be
paid in 1945. We need the money now, says Waters, and his Bonus Army hopes to
add thousands of veterans to its ranks on the long journey from Portland to
Washington, D.C.
MARY: Go with them, honey. You're a veteran. They owe you the money. By 1945
we may have starved to death.
SAM: I don't know ... leaving you and the kids ...
MARY: We'll be fine. Sam, they owe you the money. You're not working enough
now to make much of a difference. The government promised you the money.
NARRATOR: And so Sam, and hundreds of others left Portland for the capitol.
Ragged ranks of veterans going 3000 miles by train, by bus, by thumb, anyway they
could get there ... to demand the money that was owed them.
THE TIMES: Extree, extree! Bonus Army grows by thousands in continuing march
to capitol! Extree, read all about it!
NARRATOR: And all the while they were crossing the country, the newspaper
folks were building up the suspense. What was the President and Congress going to
do when they got there?
(Ruth and Jake come on as Stoopnagle and Bud, radio comics.)
RUTH: Stoopnagle, what do you think about this here Bonus Army?
JAKE: Budd, I think they're barking up the wrong tree.
RUTH: How's that?
JAKE: Now you consider how many of them are joining up. Thousands. And you
multiply that by the bonus each one expects to get. You come up with a considerable
sum.
RUTH: A mighty considerable sum.
JAKE: Now if Congress actually dishes out that considerable sum, then where are
they going to get the money to vote themselves that raise they're after? Or those trips
back home they want to take?
8.
RUTH: Or go flying around the country checking out what a mess things is?
JAKE: How's Hoover going to afford brandy and cigars?
RUTH: Or to entertain them foreign ambassadors coming over here to check for
themselves what a mess things is?
JAKE: Exactly. It costs a pretty penny to keep track of what a mess things is.
THE TIMES: Read all about it! Bonus Army occupies Washington! Thousands
pledge to stay as long as it takes! Extree, extree!
NARRATOR: Twenty thousand men, women and children had turned Washington
into a gigantic campground. They came and settled in as best they could to stay. In
the beginning their spirits were high. You could hear them singing and laughing
around the camp fires. It was quite a sight.
SONG: Over here, over here / We have come for our pay over here / And the vets
are marching / the vets are marching / We want our bonus free and clear. / Over
here, over here / We have come for our pay over here / We're comin' over / we're
comin' over / And we won't go back / until they pay us over here.
JAKE: (as reporter) Thomas R. Henry, CBS News. I'm standing along the muddy
banks of the Anacostia River in the nation's capital, where literally thousands of
families have erected shanties out of scrap lumber, tar paper, and anything they
could get their hands on. I have one of them with me here. Sir, how long are you
planning to stay?
SAM: Til I get my money.
JAKE: That could be a while. You're prepared to stay in these shanties?
SAM: What have I got to lose? The way I figure it, I'm just trying to be a good
American. All I see in the papers and magazines, and all I hear on the radio, is how
I'm supposed to buy a new washing machine or a new car or an electric ice box.
Well, I'm willing to buy those things if the government gives me my money. They
owe it to me anyway.
MARY: The President of the United States, the honorable Herbert Hoover.
RUTH: (as Hoover) We cannot tolerate the lawless occupation of empty buildings
along Pennsylvania Avenue. We cannot tolerate these sprawling shanties along the
mud flats of the Anacostia River. I propose that we surround these camps and
determine more accurately the number of communists and ex-convicts among the
marchers. To this end, I am dispatching troops under the command of General
Douglas MacArthur.
9.
JAKE: Thomas R. Henry, CBS News. A great army is moving down Pennsylvania
Avenue now, led by three tanks...
(Actors enact this.)
JAKE: ...with armed soldiers behind, and they're driving back the families who
have camped along the Avenue for so long now. The Bonus Army is a helpless army
today, they are offering no practical resistance, though some throw rocks and bottles
at the approaching tanks, ammunition that bounces harmlessly off the steel approach
of the only real army on these streets today.
SAM: (to audience) That's right, it was rocks and bottles against tanks! They had
guns, gas, sabers, bayonets, and everything else.
THE TIMES: Extree! Troops drive off Bonus Army! Hoover says no bonuses to be
paid! Eleven year old baby killed by tear gas in the raid! Read all about it!
NARRATOR: Shocked a lot of people, the United States Army driving off unarmed
families. Shocked a lot of people -- for a little while.
THE TIMES: Extree, extree! FDR defeats Hoover! Pledges a New Deal! FDR
defeats Hoover! Read all about it!
NARRATOR: November, 1932. Roosevelt was pledging a New Deal for the
American People. No one knew what he had in mind, but we did know this -- things
couldn't get worse. Unemployment was still rising. Soup lines were getting longer.
Folks were getting mighty tired of playing with a fixed deck.
(Mary and Sam's living room. Sam appears.)
SAM: Sister, can you spare a dime?
MARY: Sam!
(They embrace.)
MARY: Honey, I've been worried sick.
SAM: I know.
MARY: When I heard about the violence on the radio ...
SAM: Yeah, I know. I got back quick as I could.
MARY: They said the army used tanks ...
SAM: Yeah, they used tanks. All we wanted was the money they promised to give
us in '45 anyway. That deserves tanks? (to audience) Well, if it's a fight they want ...
10.
NARRATOR: Lots of folks had been wondering whether the government was for
them or against them. And they were getting mighty curious about what FDR was
going to have to say.
THE TIMES: (on radio) "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
OTHER ACTORS: Nothing to fear! Nothing to fear! Nothing to fear but fear itself!
NARRATOR: Fear -- a four letter word like lots of others. But fear, like love, can
move mountains. Fear can move folks to become greater than they might be
otherwise -- fear about how they're going to put the next meal on the table, how
they're going to buy that pair of shoes their kids need, how they're going to find a job.
Fear can move folks to take their lives and troubles into their own hands.
SONG: If just accept it is the answer / What's the question? / If that's what we have
to pay / It's over-priced. / In 1934 all we were askin' / was just a decent chance at a
decent life. // I was there I'm telling you, don't kid yourself / Hunger's not poetic.
Rags can leave a scar. / These were not romantic or heroic times. / Times are not
heroic / Sometimes people are.
NARRATOR: In '34 this was happening in Minneapolis, in Toledo, all across the
country. It was happening to me and a lot of others in Portland, too -- especially on
the docks.
SAM: (as leader at company union meeting) Order in the hall! Order in the hall!
JAKE: We demand to be heard!
RUTH: We got a right!
SAM: I'll hear the representatives of the Columbia River--
JAKE: Company union!
RUTH: Fink union!
SAM: The Columbia River Longshoreman's Union is delegated to--
MARY: Fink company union!
JAKE: Join the ILA!
RUTH: Join the ILA!
JAKE AND RUTH: ILA! ILA!
ALL: ILA! ILA! ILA! ILA!
11.
NARRATOR: The Waterfront Employer's Association, which ran the hiring halls,
recognized only one union, the Columbia River Longshoreman's Union. But dock
workers were demanding their own union, formed by the workers for the workers,
the International Longshoreman's Association ... the ILA!
MARY: (song) They say down on the Portland docks / No neutrals can be found /
You're either in the ILA / Or boys you're bound to drown
ALL: Join the ILA / Join the ILA
THE TIMES: My daddy worked the docks, boys / And I'm a longshore son / And
I'll stick with the ILA / until the battle's won
ALL: Join the ILA / Join the ILA
VERSE: Longshoreman, can you stand it? / Oh tell me if you can / Will you be the
boss' scab / Or will you be a man?
CHORUS: Join the ILA / Join the ILA
VERSE: In '22 they beat us / But now our time is near / We're gonna win the hiring
hall / and throw them on their ear
CHORUS: We joined the ILA! / We joined the ILA!
SAM: (with newspaper) Look at this.
THE TIMES: (reading) "Dock workers threaten to close down west coast ports!
Threat of dock strike!"
NARRATOR: The ranks in Portland were growing, just as they were in Seattle, San
Francisco, and Los Angeles. In Portland, the ILA even had its own radio program.
THE TIMES: (on radio) Radio KEX presents, The Longshore Report. Today's
guest, Matt Mehan.
JAKE: (as Matt Mehan) Today let's talk about a general strike. From L.A. to San
Francisco Bay, from Portland to Seattle Sound, we've got the solidarity to bring the
docks to a standstill. It ain't just us longshoremen either, it's everybody. We've got
the Portland Central Labor Council behind us. If we don't get our demands from the
owners, we can shut down the whole city!
THE TIMES: Longshoremen pledge May 9th walkout! Strike appears certain! Read
all about it!
NARRATOR: The Waterfront Employers' Association had won big in '22 and they
figured they could win again. And so the Portland dock strike began.
12.
SONG: May 9th the strike begins, boys / Someone inform the mayor / So he can
pace all night, boys / And rave and pull his hair / "The waterfront is tied up tight!" /
The newsboys all will howl / With not one thing a-moving / Except the mayor's
bowels
THE TIMES: Waterfront tied up tight! Extree, extree! Dock strike begins!
SONG: We got to stick it out, boys / If we want to win this fight / To push for better
wages / Is something that's our right / We're gonna build this union / And make
them agonize / and when this strike is over / They'll be telling no more lies
NARRATOR: Today it might not seem like much what the longshoremen were
asking for back then. Dollar an hour straight time pay. Dollar and a half overtime.
Their own union, the ILA, and control of the hiring hall, so the bosses couldn't keep
everybody running scared. They wanted these things badly enough to go on strike
for them -- even though the '22 strike had been a failure. Fear had turned to courage
for the dock workers out on the picket lines -- and for the wives, and sisters and
sweethearts who supported them behind the lines.
(Ruth and Mary in Mary's living room.)
RUTH: Turn on the radio. Maybe there's some news.
(Mary does.)
THE TIMES: (radio) Good morning, Mr. Robinson! And why the cheerful phiz?
SAM: (radio) I've switched to Ingrams, gentlemen, the coolest shave there is!
THE TIMES: Do you recall those nicks and cuts upon that face of his?
SAM: Them days is gone forever!
THE TIMES: Here we are, in tube or jar!
(Mary changes the station.)
THE TIMES: (radio) One reason a dog's teeth seldom decay! Yes, students now
offer the answers to these puzzling questions -- why puppies eat mud! Why a dog's
favorite delicacy is a bone! What have we learned from our four-legged pets about
fighting tooth decay? At the Pepsodent Company Labs we--
MARY: (turning off radio.) Click. No news on. You know, Ruth, I stopped by
Albert's grocery this morning. I saw him throwing out some vegetables so I stopped
to see how they were. They weren't fresh but they weren't spoiled either. He says we
can pick them up every Thursday.
RUTH: Mary, that's terrific.
13.
MARY: So then I went over to Thompson's store and told him what Albert's was
doing. We can get his old vegetables, too, and even soup bones. He usually saves
them for the pets of his regular customers.
RUTH: I bet we could get week-olds from every grocer in town. It's a great idea.
(They sing.)
RUTH: The hunger in the eyes of my children / is a pain that I don't like to see / The
anguish in their faces / And the holes in their shoes / Says we gotta fight / 'Cause
there ain't nothing left to lose
CHORUS: When will things go the right way again / Is there any chance it'll get
better, my friend / Some day ...
MARY: Got a sister in Tacoma / She's been typing for seven years / She got laid off
work last month / And her funds are running out / How's she gonna calm her fears /
and drive away her tears? / She's a lonely woman trying hard to make it.
CHORUS: When will things go the right way again? / Is there any chance it'll get
better, my friend? / Some day ...
NARRATOR: Whenever there's a strike, women are out on the picket lines.
MARY & RUTH & NARRATOR: Together protecting our jobs and families / Yet
it's men who go to victory / leaving hard working women behind / But this time
we're gonna form the auxiliary. // I believe it can get better, my friend / but things
don't change by themselves / Stand up and be counted, gotta speak out to who's to
blame / Can't go hanging on a thread / Just a puppet of the boss's game / If we don't
do it now for our children / It will be the same, once again
NARRATOR: Yes, there were a lot of ways folks were supporting the longshoremen
and their families on strike. Farmers hauled crops into town and distributed them to
the strikers. Engineers refused to take their trains across the picket lines to the docks.
Most important of all, the ILA was getting to the unemployed before the bosses did.
ILA representatives went down the valley, over to the coast, and even out the gorge
to talk to workers and get their support of the dock strike. This wasn't going to be
'22 all over again.
MARY: (as strike breaker) Step right up, men. We got steady work for steady pay.
Who wants a job working on the busy docks of Portland?
SAM: Scab work, you mean! At rotten pay!
MARY: It's bad times -- but bad times is better when you have a job. Who wants
work? What about you, mister? Jobs ain't so easy to find today.
SAM: I ain't no scab.
14.
JAKE: And I ain't crossing no picket lines.
NARRATOR: Me neither.
(Strikers exit.)
RUTH: (as strike breaker) It's the damn farmers. They're hauling in food and just
handing it out. The strikers are eating better than they've eaten in months. And
waitresses are slipping them scraps. I seen it in restaurants all over town.
MARY: We'll truck in men from Salem.
RUTH: Tried Salem.
MARY: Astoria.
RUTH: Tried it.
MARY: The Dalles, then, damn it!
RUTH: Tried The Dalles. Listen, I even went over to Fossil and couldn't find
anybody to scab -- I mean, work.
MARY: Well, I know one place we can find somebody to work for us.
RUTH: Where's that?
MARY: At the college in Corvallis.
THE TIMES: (as college professor) Ladies and gentlemen! The Waterfront
Employers' Association is happy to present ... The Cow College Scab Chorus Bozos!
Gimme an S! Gimme a C! Gimme an A! Gimme a B! Whataya got? Scab!
(The scab song, tune "Bye Bye Blackbird":)
THE TIMES: I teach my students "strikes don't pay" / They don't have morals
anyway / Too bad, strikers // We have come to get your dough / And if you starve,
well we won't know / Too bad, strikers // You say the union strike has your devotion
/ But I am here to undermine that notion // I teach my kids the bovine way / we'll
scab your jobs both night and day / Strikers, too bad
(Other scabs join in.)
CHORUS: We are Corvallis cows that croon / For anyone, you name the tune / Just
for money // We'll undermine your chances for a movement / We're udderly
committed to our own improvement // Milking other guys is our best facet / Our
brains are at the bottom of our ass--ets // We are Corvallis cows that scab / Move
over now, give us a stab / Strikers, too bad!
15.
(Tap and shuffle dance.)
ALL: You ask for a better lot / we say, what's wrong with what you've got?
RUTH: Low wages
SAM: Long hours
JAKE: No hiring hall
MARY: No union
THE TIMES: No dinner
ALL: Too bad!
(They dance off.)
NARRATOR: Corvallis college boys scabbed, Reed College boys joined the
strikers -- got beat up by the owners' Special Force for their trouble. Nerves were
getting short all the way around.
JAKE: What do you mean, nerves? I'm having a fine old time. Listen, wait'll you
hear what we did to the boss' special police down at the McCormick dock. That's
where the Admiral Evans is docked, with all them specials and goons aboard. They
got this high wooden fence around the dock, see, for a barrier, and this police guard,
too -- regular Portland Police, see. Well, a three a.m. on a certain morning, me and
some others start leaning against the fence to see how well she holds up. When the
specials and goons see what we're up to, they yell at the Portland cop to stop us but
he don't do nothing. Then all of a sudden, bam!, that ol' fence just collapses. So we
start running over the fence when the cop starts yelling, "There's nails sticking up
out of the boards, boys! Watch your feet! Watch the nails!" He didn't want us
hurting ourselves. And when those specials and goons seen that he wasn't going to
stop us, some of them jumped right in the river. And those that didn't, we threw
them in the river ourselves. Hell, it was worth the whole damn strike!
(He exits.)
NARRATOR: Well, maybe the docks weren't closed up tight in Portland, but there
were damn few leads. Still, even one scab crossing the lines was enough for tempers
to flare up.
(Mary, Sam, Ruth and Jake enter as police guard and strikers.)
MARY: (with police whistle) Break it up, break it up!
RUTH: I ain't letting no scab take my job!
16.
MARY: Break it up! These men got a right to go to work.
RUTH: (to audience) Can you believe it? Suddenly the cops is on the side of the
scabs. Cops is working stiffs. They ought to be for us, not against us.
MARY: (blowing whistle) Break it up, break it up!
(The Times as a scab breaks through the line of strikers, and strikers try to stop him,
yelling.)
MARY: Leave these men alone!
ALL: (as strikers) Scabs, scabs, scabs, scabs, scabs...!
(Everyone but narrator freezes.)
NARRATOR: How are your nerves? Got a Camel? The whole west coast was
locked up in a strike. Then, in July, on the day after the nation celebrated its
independence, something happened in San Francisco.
(Group that was frozen turns to audience and mimes holding a gun.)
ALL: Bang!
NARRATOR: The papers and history would call it Bloody Thursday. Two men
were killed and 82 seriously injured when police clashed with strikers. San Francisco
called a general strike, and in Portland everyone could hear the echo.
SAM: Listen! I was in Washington during the Bonus March and saw for myself
what violence means. It means they got the guns and we got the rocks. We have to
close down this city before the same thing happens here. That means a general strike!
NARRATOR: The politicians started chain-smoking Camels when they heard that.
Northbound trains were stopped at the California-Oregon border and searched for
agitators.
JAKE, MARY, RUTH AND THE TIMES: (as a train) Woo woo ... woo woo ...
woo woo ...
NARRATOR: We got nothing to fear but fear itself.
THE TRAIN: Woo woo.
NARRATOR: July 11 -- less than a week after Bloody Thursday, the Portland
Police finally reached the bottom of the pack.
THE TRAIN: Woo woo.
17.
NARRATOR: Police officers were stationed on a flatcar preceding a train to
Terminal Number 4. In the past, when pickets blocked the tracks, engineers stopped
the trains. Now the police were there to make sure the trains got to the docks.
(Sam with picket sign stands in path of oncoming train. Narrator joins him with a picket
sign.)
SAM: Thou shalt not pass!
THE TIMES: Woo woo ... move!
SAM: Thou shalt not pass!
THE TIMES: Move move!
MARY: (as police) This is the Chief of Police. Remove yourself from the tracks.
The train is coming through.
SAM: Shalt not!
MARY: The train is coming through!
SAM: Shalt not!
THE TRAIN: Move!
SAM: Shalt not!
THE TRAIN: Move!
SAM: No!
(Trains becomes police opening fire in a ritualized movement. Clash of symbols. Mary
aims rifle (billy club) at strikers. Ruth smears hands in blood and lays the bloody hands on
Sam. Sam falls wounded. Narrator falls to avoid shots, goes to her wounded friend.)
(Struggling to their feet, Sam and Narrator face the Chief of Police, who still points the
gun/club at them.)
(Song begins.)
SAM: The Union is behind us
SAM AND NARRATOR: We shall not be moved / The union is behind us / We
shall not be moved
(More voices join in.)
18.
SONG: Just like a tree / that's planted by the water / We shall not be moved
CHORUS: We shall not / We shall not be moved / We shall not / We shall not be
moved / Just like a tree etc
VERSE: The ILA's our union / We shall not be moved / The ILA's our union / We
shall not be moved / Just like a tree etc.
NARRATOR: Four strikers were wounded when the police opened fire. It was guns
against rocks once again. All were wounded above the waist, leading to speculation
that the police had been ordered to shoot to kill. The Portland Police Department
fell under heavy criticism for the shootings. A week later they were going to jump
from the frying pan into the fire.
(Narrator exits.)
THE TIMES: Extree, extree! Senator Wagner in Portland to inspect strike area first
hand! Read all about it!
(Mary and Ruth enter cautiously as special police.)
MARY: Hey, Jim, who the hell's that over there? I ain't seen him on the docks before.
RUTH: Looks important. Got a flock following him around.
MARY: Don't like the looks of him.
RUTH: Sure looks like he's snooping for something, don't it?
MARY: Getting an eye full, all right.
RUTH: Think he's a red?
MARY: Ain't dressed like a red. He's dressed like a politician.
RUTH: What the hell, if you was a red, would you dress in public like one? You
wouldn't want to be recognized.
MARY: You got a point. He sure is snooping around.
RUTH: I bet he's a red.
MARY: Hey, looks like they're fixing to leave.
RUTH: Think he's a red?
MARY: They're getting into their car! They're getting away!
19.
RUTH: We got to do something!
MARY AND RUTH: (take out water pistols) Bang bang bang bang!
(They exit.)
NARRATOR: Sure didn't help the police department's reputation to fire on Senator
Wagner, even if they missed. Not only were they stupid, they were bad shots. The
next day Gov. Meier called out the National Guard and stationed them at Camp
Wythecomb. The bosses were hoping the Guard would protect the few scabs still
going to work. In fact, a different kind of battle was being fought now. Not as
dramatic as throwing specials in the river or firing at a United States Senator but it
was going to turn the tide in the end.
(Sam and Mary at home. Jake and Ruth enter.)
JAKE: Turn on the radio, buddy!
SAM: What's up?
JAKE: Some of the guys at the hall are saying the Guard's going to be coming in.
SAM: Rocks against tanks again.
(He turns on the radio.)
THE TIMES: (radio) Sleep, baby, sleep! Neither speed nor roads affect the
amazing comfort of Studebaker rear seats. Your baby will sleep the entire trip away.
$645 and up, at the factory.
RUTH: Try another station.
THE TIMES: (singing) We're in the money, we're in the money etc.
SAM: Just when we had them over a barrel.
MARY: I can't believe they'd do that.
SAM: They did it against the Bonus Army.
JAKE: And tried to shoot Senator Wagner.
THE TIMES: (radio) We interrupt our program for a special news bulletin.
RUTH: Turn it up.
THE TIMES: Dock strike ends!
20.
SAM: Here it comes.
THE TIMES: Arbitrators today awarded striking longshoremen raises to 95 cents
an hour and $1.40 an hour for overtime. Additionally, the hiring hall dispatcher
hereafter will be appointed by the International Longshoremen's Association. ILA
officials are calling the settlement a complete victory.
(Everyone speaks at once.)
ALL: You hear that?...We won!...We did it! etc.
THE TIMES: Details follow at three. (song continues in background as before)
NARRATOR: The strikers had managed to keep the docks at a standstill, giving
union negotiators the leverage they needed to win. It was hard on folks going all that
time without pay, but longshore families had stuck it out together -- and in less than
three months, we made history!
(Sam turns the radio off.)
JAKE: Hey, I was dancing to that.
SAM: I got something to say.
JAKE: Well ... ?
SAM: I won't be going back to work on the docks. We're heading down the valley.
JAKE: I don't get it.
SAM: I got a job in the woods.
RUTH: Logging?
SAM: A little logging, a little organizing. In the woods it's like it was on the docks a
few years back. They can use all the help they can get.
JAKE: I'll be damned!
RUTH: (to Mary) We'll miss you in the auxiliary.
MARY: Ruthie, I'll miss you, too.
(They embrace.)
SAM: I can't explain it but I feel like it's just something I have to do. I'm a slow
learner but when I learn, watch out. I'm going to be the Matt Mehan of the woods.
21.
JAKE: Damn, Sam -- do it, buddy!
(Mary turns the radio back on. Celebration.)
NARRATOR: Well, there's not much new under the sun. It's still folks trying to
lead a decent life. It's still fear and anger turning into courage, through the solidarity
and strength of working people who put their bodies on the line.
CLOSING SONG: Have you heard the news / Isn't it something? / Don't it make
you jump, jiggle and shout? / There's so many folks / just surviving / Really takes
some nerve to put yourself out. // Well, the times is hard / ain't they, mister? / Never
had it bad as this before / Takes that union card / don't it, sister? / Takes that union
card and a lot more. // Have you heard the news / isn't it something? / anytime when
folks get on the move / 1934 / was the longshoremen / 1980s -- will it be you?
/end