ABSTRACT
Federal census data is incomplete regarding the number of longshoremen. Before 1910, published census data carried no separate category for longshoremen, apparently including them in the category of labourers. Robert Coleman Francis, who worked on the waterfront shortly before the 1934 strike, described the significance of age in the early 1930s: Many of the best longshoremen on the waterfront are over fifty years of age. In San Francisco, the racial segregation of longshore work gangs was prohibited in the mid-1930s. The published census tells little more about other characteristics of San Francisco bay area longshoremen. In 1902, the International Longshoremen's Association changed its name to the International Longshoremen, Marine, and Transport Workers' Association, and laid claim to represent all maritime workers. Foreign commerce accounted for an eighth of the total tonnage that moved over the docks.
