Harry Lundeberg
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| Harry Lundeberg | |
| Born | March 25, 1901 Oslo, Norway |
|---|---|
| Died | January 28, 1957 (aged 55) San Francisco, California |
| Occupation | Trade union leader |
| Website http://www.seafarers.org |
|
Harrald Olaf Lundeberg[1] (March 25, 1901 - January 28, 1957) from Oslo, Norway was a merchant seaman and an American labor leader.
Lundeberg left his home of Oslo at age 14,[2] joined the Seamen's Union of Australia in 1917 and transferred into the Sailors' Union of the Pacific in Seattle[2] in 1923.[3] He sailed for 21 years on sailing ships and steamers of a variety of flags,[2] eventually earning American citizenship.[2]
In 1934, Lundeberg was sailing as third mate aboard the SS James W. Griffiths.[2] In the course of the 1934 West Coast Longshore Strike, Lundeberg walked off his ship in Oakland in support of the strike.[4] At its height, at least 8,000 west coast sailors joined the strike. On July 30, 1934, as the strike came close to conclusion, Lundeberg was elected Sailor's Union of the Pacific patrolman for the Seattle area.
In April 1935[5] at a conference of maritime unions in Seattle, it was decided to establish an umbrella union to represent the membership of the International Seaman's Union as well as maritime officers and longshoremen. This umbrella organization was called the Maritime Federation and Lundeberg was named its first president.[5] Later that year, he was elected Secretary-Treasurer of SUP.
Over the next two years, the International Seamen's Union experienced intense difficulties, including the revocation of their charter and the loss of 30,000 seamen in July of 1937 to the Congress of Industrial Organizations' newly formed National Maritime Union. A month later, William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, took over the ISU with the goal of rebuilding it under the AFL. Lundeberg, who was now also head of the Sailor's Union of the Pacific, oversaw this reorganization.[6] On October 15, 1938 at an AFL convention in Houston, Texas, Green handed Lundeberg the Seafarer's International Union charter. The new union numbered some 7,000 members on the east and gulf coasts.
Lundeberg served as president of SIU from 1938 until his death from a heart attack in a San Francisco hospital on January 28, 1957.[7]
[edit] Memorials
- There is a memorial to Lundeberg at 450 Harrison Street in San Francisco, California, outside the entrance to the Sailors Union of the Pacific Hall.[8]
- There is a memorial to Lundeberg outside the seamans hotel at the seafarers harry Lundeburg school of Seamanship in Piney Point maryland
- In 1967, Paul Hall established the Seafarers Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship in Piney Point, Maryland to give young people the chance for a career at sea. Since then, thousands of SIU members have advanced their skills, and thousands of young people from deprived backgrounds have found employment through the school.In 2005 the Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship and the seafarers international union signed a consent agreement in the Baltimore federal court with the EEOC as plientiff to admit people of all ages and the apprentice program has a diverse student body of all ages, races and gender.
[edit] Trivia
- Lundeberg's nickname was "The Lunchbox."[9]
- Lundeberg was 6 feet 2 1/2 inches tall and weighed 190 pounds[9]
- Lundeberg was tattooed and "never ducked a waterfront strike or a dock brawl."[9]
- Lundeberg had a longstanding feud with longshoreman's president Harry Bridges.[9]
- Lundeberg "once got a smashed jaw from a C.I.O.-swung baseball bat"[9]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Harry Lundeberg Stetson. West Coast Sailors. Retrieved on March 17, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e Centennial Retrospective. West Coast Sailors. Retrieved on March 17, 2007.
- ^ Chapter IV: Twilight of Freedom. Sailor's Union of the Pacific History. Retrieved on March 17, 2007.
- ^ Chapter VI: Year of Rebirth (1934). Sailor's Union of the Pacific History. Retrieved on March 17, 2007.
- ^ a b Chapter VIII: Twilight of Freedom. Sailor's Union of the Pacific History. Retrieved on March 17, 2007.
- ^ SIU & Maritime History. SIU History. Retrieved on March 17, 2007.
- ^ The Early Years: New Union Elects First Administration. AMO History. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.
- ^ CA Landmarks. laborheritage.org. Retrieved on March 16, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e Milestones. Time Magazine. Retrieved on March 28, 2007.
