ilwu Collection Joseph Grosso

Untitled #8 [1948 Strike]

This painting of a group of marching pickets during the pivotal 1948 strike illustrates the multi-racial character of the longshore work force, and the ILWU’s largely successful struggle to end discrimination against African American workers. The picket signs read “No Contract, No Work,” and “ILWU 1948 Strike,” and the man wearing a red shirt in the foreground is distributing a strike bulletin.

Oil painting by James Grosso, circa 1955.

See this image in the Art from the Waterfront exhibit