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Dad worked on the docks in 940-41, the first time he was in Seward so it was natural that he would do the same again. Plus the railroad was basically the only other possible employer, but the railroad employed far fewer men and its union was far more difficult to join. These items show his membership. What I find interesting is the fact that the photo ID shows that he joined on 11/20/52. He went to Seward in November of 1951, so why the year delay? In the same vein, the Membership Book shows another year delaay in its issue date. I never thought about his membership in the union but now am curious about why he was allowed to work for 1-2 years without paying union dues. Unions don’t tolerate that sort of thing.
He was in the dock-side union, the one that received cargo from the ship, and loaded it from rail cars onto the ship. The other union was shipside and it operated entirely inside the ship. Here’s a fuzzy view of Seward and Resurrection bay which shows all of the docks. None of them survived the 1964 Easter Earthquake.
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When I visited Seward in 2003, I was amazed to see only beaches. In this 1954 photo you can see four docks starting at the bottom right: City, Standardd Oil, Army, and San Juan which is attached to the Small Boat Harbor on its left. Population 2,000. The tide is out exposing the mud flats which are prime salmon vishing territory when the tide is in. Just left of center about a third of the way up you see me and my brother standing on an outcrop, arm extended.
Here’s a gallery of the docks in Seward Alaska in the early 1950’s when he worked on them, primarily on the City Dock, the Army Dock and the Barge Dock.
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