Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific records, 1919-2015

Labor organization.

The Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific was originally organized as the Ferryboatmen's Union of California in San Francisco in 1918. The union's early strength was among workers on railroad-owned ferries in San Francisco Bay, where it organized unlicensed workers, including deckhands, watchmen, bargemen, oilers, firemen, cooks and waitresses. The union began organizing workers on river freighters and tugs, and in 1931 expanded into the Pacific Northwest to organize ferry and tug workers on the Columbia River and Puget Sound. Its name was changed to Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific in 1936 to reflect this change in scope. Early bargaining successes included achieving an 8-hour day for ferry workers, and a guarantee of a "dismissal wage," (severance pay) for ferry workers to be displaced by the construction of bridges in San Francisco Bay. By the late 1930s the union had local organizations in Puget Sound, the Columbia River, San Francisco Bay, Long Beach, and San Diego. Since the 1960s, the IBU has had considerable membership in Alaska as well. Affiliated with the International Seamen's Union from 1919 to 1937, the IBU became the first West Coast affiliate of the CIO in 1937, and was affiliated with the Maritime Federation of the Pacific in the 1930s. Leaving the CIO in 1948, the IBU was affiliated with the Seafarers' International Union of North America until 1979. Since October 31, 1980 the IBU has been the Marine Division of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union.

List of IBU Presidents 1919-1931

• 1919--Harry Williams
• 1920--J. J. Moore
• 1921--H. Behrend, F.P. Kinney
• 1922--J. Fancort, W. R. Chandler
• 1923--C.B. Connolly
• 1924--M. H. Skibinski
• 1925--Mark G. Reid
• 1926--Carl Fergus
• 1927--Paul Clinch
• 1928--Henry Behrend
• 1929--Jas. N. Dunn
• 1930--E. U. Barton
• 1931--E.U. Barton