Swedish-born Soderberg was a veteran labor militant and former C.P. member associated with Jay Lovestone’s tendency. In 1931 as secretary of the Independent Tidewater Boatmen’s Union he led a strike in New York City harbor. Arrested with other union leaders, framed-up on a ‘bombing conspiracy’ against struck boats charge, Soderberg was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in Sing Sing. A Marine Workers’ Defense Committee with Carlo Tresca as secretary fought for his release which finally happened in 1942, at which point he was deported to war-time Europe. Here Soderberg describes conditions that led to the strike and his and the union’s persecution.

‘The Harbor Boatman’ by John G. Soderberg from Labor Age. Vol. 21 No. 2. February, 1932.

THAT branch of the marine industry known as the Harbor Boatmen is one of the most strategic branches in this important and basic industry. These men control all movements of cargoes in the harbor and river. In case of a strike of these men, not only would a large percentage of the foreign cargoes from the transatlantic ships be held up, but also most of the coal used in New York City. Eighty per cent of all coal used in the city is brought here on the coal-barges and loaded on the trucks at the coalyards and sent out to the various places of destination: This does not apply to coal used for domestic purposes only but also to coal used by concerns such as the B.M.T. and the I.R.T. Both of these companies are chartering a large fleet of the coal boats transporting coal.

I speak of coal, because this is the commodity that is being carried mostly at this time of the year. However, other commodities are also being handled by these barges, and many thousands of tons of cargo are being transferred annually from the large transatlantic ships on the barges and there carried up the river where the large ships cannot go because of their size. Thus it can be seen that quite a commotion would be caused were these men to declare a strike in the harbor. I shall come back to this later in my article.

What are the conditions under which these men work? The barges vary in size from 500 tons upward to 2000 tons. Each boat is taken care of by one man, commonly referred to as the captain. He is chief officer, able seaman, deck boy, pilot, and navigator, all in one, with the pay of a deck boy and the living conditions of a pig, or worse. He has no regular hours. The boat is loading usually in the daytime when he must be constantly on watch to see to it that the boat is not loaded in such a way that it will sink later. At night he usually tows up the river or wherever he is going and must then be on the lookout that his boat does not slip the tow and drift off somewhere and get run down by other shipping. His boat upon arrival at its destination is usually unloaded next day, and the following night he tows again to pick up the next cargo. He sleeps when he can; he eats when he can; and he works most of the time.

Some of these boats leak badly and need constant pumping to be kept afloat. It is nothing unusual for a “captain” to have to get up twice during the night (if he is lucky to get a night in) and pump his boat in order to keep her afloat. Sometimes he must forget that he is a seaman and become a carpenter and ship builder. He is expected to repair any leaks, but, if he has to buy any tools and materials to repair his boat, he is not expected to present the bill to the owners. If he does, he usually loses his job under some pretext or other.

The wages vary from $100. per month down to as low as $70. or less. O’Boyle pays $70. The companies that are unionized pay the one scale of wages whether the boat is empty or loaded. Others, however, including O’Boyle, pay a dollar a day when the boat is empty, and there are times when O’Boyle and others of the antiunion variety have been known to put one man in charge of five or six boats, tied up side by side, fully loaded and waiting for consignment. When boats are loaded the owners receive so much per day according to its tonnage and, yet, these owners I have referred to, pay one man one dollar a day to take care of six boats. Under present union conditions such an owner would be compelled to pay six men three dollars per day or a total of $18 per day instead of one dollar. O’Boyle and Hanrahan are the two champions in this respect. Incidentally, O’Boyle is the complainant in our case.

The conditions under which these captains live pass all imagination, A dark, smelly, foul and dirty hole called the cabin serves as the dining room, bedroom bathroom, kitchen and pantry. Sanitary conditions, there are none. The cabin is over-ridden with roaches and bedbugs. A smoking coal stove supplies the heat and a ditto kerosene lamp, the light. One of the prisoners (Trajer) in this case came aboard one of these boats and found in the cabin one stove, one table, and one soap-box to be used as a chair to sit down on. Nothing else. No bed, no lamp, not the most elementary little thing necessary. My cell here in Tombs prison is luxurious compared to some of the cabins I have seen on these boats.

Yet on most of these boats, captains bring up their children. These children, of course, are unable to attend school due to the fact that the boat keeps moving from place to place and on $100. a month or less, a captain cannot afford to rent a place ashore for wife and children. What the outlook and possibilities for the future hold for these children, anyone can imagine.

It was conditions such as these that made the men organize. The Independent Tidewater Boatmens’ Union has had its ups and downs as all other unions. There was a time when this union controlled most of the harbor, and its members at that time were able to wrest a few concessions even from O’Boyle. However, the union, for various reasons, lost some of its former strength a little over a year ago and at once the bosses took advantage. Down came the wages and, in many instances, off came the union men to be replaced by non-union men. The union declined in membership from over 2000 to less than 200. The wages came down accordingly and conditions became worse. Some boat owners even had men taking care of their boats for the privilege of living on the boats and no pay when no cargo could be found.

A small group of men, some old time members and others, including the writer, recently having joined the union, got together and an effort was made to turn the tide. Gradually the tide was turned and the union again started to grow. Old timers came back. A couple of companies decided it was best to come to terms with the union. They saw the handwriting on the wall. Captains, employed by O’Boyle, came back into the union, although that notorious strike breaker and union hater refused to recognize the union. As usual, the cry of “communists” and “radicals” was raised, especially against the secretary and executive board of the union. The union, however, continued to grow and it took up the question of preparing a strike in the month of January on all boats belonging to O’Boyle and Hanrahan.

At the time the decision became known, there appeared in the hall and around the office, a character who carried a card in the union. As secretary of the union I had occasion to check up on his card one day, and I found that he was several months behind in dues. His name was William Hoyle. He stated to me that he was unemployed, having lost his job on a Trap Rock Co. boat (he was fired for drunkenness). A few days later he came in and paid up three months dues (bear in mind that he was unemployed and had no money), and some time later he came in and paid up the remainder of his arrears.

Every day he seemed more and more anxious to get into conversation with me. Finally, one day he openly came out with a proposition to me that certainly would have landed me where I am today, in prison. I threw him out of the office bodily and two days later called the executive board together and proposed that this Hoyle be expelled from the union, stating that my grounds for this was his obvious provocateurish tactics. The president of the union advised me to wait a little longer and investigate. That waiting and investigation brought my two comrades and myself here. I wish to add here, that minutes of the above meeting and minutes of the subsequent membership meeting and motions on the subject duly recorded and signed and sealed are in the hands of the police who arrested us, and we certainly cannot be charged with having “doctored” these minutes as they have been in the custody of the police since our arrest.

Due to the fact that our trial is still pending it would not be a good policy for me to describe the frame-up in detail, but this much I can say:

We shall prove at the trial that O’Boyle knew he faced a strike in January. That O’Boyle realized this strike would mean that he would be compelled to come into line with other companies and recognize the union and pay the scale. That this Hoyle was the only one that could have gotten the dynamite. That the dynamite was deliberately placed by Hoyle to frame the union officials. That the two boats alleged to have been damaged by dynamite were the only two boats of the whole O’Boyle fleet carrying insurance. That Hoyle was paid for his dirty work by Hichey of the O’Boyle Company. And finally, that Hichey offered $50 to have a certain part of Hoyle’s first statement changed.

Labor Age was a left-labor monthly magazine with origins in Socialist Review, journal of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society. Published by the Labor Publication Society from 1921-1933 aligned with the League for Industrial Democracy of left-wing trade unionists across industries. During 1929-33 the magazine was affiliated with the Conference for Progressive Labor Action (CPLA) led by A. J. Muste. James Maurer, Harry W. Laidler, and Louis Budenz were also writers. The orientation of the magazine was industrial unionism, planning, nationalization, and was illustrated with photos and cartoons. With its stress on worker education, social unionism and rank and file activism, it is one of the essential journals of the radical US labor socialist movement of its time.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/laborage/v21n02-feb-1932-labor-age.pdf