up next on a second look, the waterfront strike that turned into a riot and shut down san francisco. the fight over farm workers rights in salina during the depression. and a woman who has devoted her life to improve the lives of migrant laborers. all ahead tonight on a second look. good evening and welcome to a second look, i'm julie haener. in america's labor movement there are two significant dates each year. labor day and may first. we thought this year during the

month of may we would bring you a look back at some of the significant times and events here in the bay area and northern california. we begin tonight with a strike in san francisco in the 1930s that has shaped the labor movement in san francisco ever since. george watson first brought us this report in 2000. >> movie cone is covering the waterfront. >> reporter: san francisco was one of the busiest sea ports when shore men went on strike. it was may 9, 1934. >> with vital stars in the grip of strikers, signs such as these are typical displays. nerve centers of the strike by

the food marts, jammed by citizens fearful of a food shortage. the few eating places still open and able to get supplies do a rushing business. >> reporter: 56 days after the strike began, a riot took place. 96 ships were idle. shippers said the strike was costing them $1 million a day. cargo was being off loaded on to truck, five thousand longshoremen and their supporters showed up to stop the trucks. policemen showed up to stop the longshoremen. at precisely 1:37 in the afternoon, five trucks rolled out of pier 38 and the battle was ongoing. >> police on horse, armed with

tear gas. drivers came out of the dock with the first loads of scrap materials. >> reporter: strikers had the numbers but the police had the equipment. police on the street had been ordered to show the strikers no -- >> they committed on the employers tactics throughout the strike. >> reporter: both sides observed the holiday, but on thursday morning the trucks rolled out of pier 38 and the fighting resumed. one fighter described the strike as a series of small battles. >> police draw a temporary

victory as the strikers flee before the tear gas is thrown. >> reporter: strikers had the high ground and again used bricks and gas against the strikers. >> the strikers hurled down objects. they started moving down and there were some gunshots fired. >> it moved across to stewart street and in front of the ferry building. two men were finally shot and killed. >> reporter: a witness said it was like the police were shooting birds firing from the hip. this would become holy ground for the strikers. chalk and flowers marked ground. the tally read two men killed, dozens shot. by mid-afternoon the government called out the national guard. >> the situation is so tense

that 1,500 national guards men have been assigned to patrol the area with 5,000 more in reserve. governor mariam tells tells you why. >> to safeguard life, to protect state property and to preserve order. >> reporter: with the entire metropolitan section of the city, 1 million and a half people remain at stake. >> reporter: strike leader harry bridges told his people they could not stand against police and the national guard. control shifted to the military. but that didn't end it. five days later san francisco

was witness to another procession. the two men that were shot down. the moment turned a turning point. a general strike was organized calling for an end to the violence on the waterfront. on july 16th nothing move in the city. streetcars, taxis, bus, trains, virtually everything shut down. >> food for 1 million and a half comes in just the same. fresh fruit is unloaded and distributed to the hungry citizens under god. >> reporter: the strike lasted only two days but the anger and power behind it was enough to force an end to the waterfront strike. after 86 days off the job, more than 32,000 maritime workers and longshoremen went back to work from san diego to the

canadian border. >> never again will we see the day men will be chosen for a job standing on the center of the street. they gave us a right to have a union or we could chose our men on a system of fairness. >> reporter: places where this chapter in san francisco history were written are gone today or almost unrecognizable. high rise condominiums grace the landscapes where ships and the men who once worked them ran the way. for better or for worse this is where the character of this place must forever forge on that bloody thursday in july 66 years ago. still to come on a second look, we'll have randy shandobil's 1993's look on a pivotal strike that led to a

decline of unions. what event angered residents in 1991?

a little over 30 years ago an event would occur that would change the direction of america's labor movement. it was a strike known as patco. president reagan fired the protesters and broke their union. randy shandobil looked at how things had changed for labor in the 12 years since the patco strike. >> reporter: near the foot of san francisco's market street there is a monument to workers. the mechanics monument. on this labor day people all but ignored it. to most people this day

symbolizing the last day of summer. the day triggers memories of the battle the parents and grandparents of shoppers and picnickers had to fight. >> men and woman long before they came on the scene got their skulls busted, went to jail. >> no contract, no welfare, no benefit, no job protection against injury. >> reporter: labor historian archie green talks about what it was like for workers when the first labor day was celebrated. he says labor didn't celebrate any particular union. >> and you raced down the

waterfront and you stood in line like a dog, formed a circle outside of the pier. you stand in the circle and a hiring boss comes down and says, charlie, i'll take you. jim, come on in. okay i got enough men, the rest of you guys get the hell out of here. >> reporter: if you were picked you would work 16 hour days. if you were hurt, you would not dare let the boss know. >> you could take one stick and break it very easily. but when you take 16 sticks and attempt to break them it's almost difficult. >> reporter: the national game in killing two, wounding hundreds more. finally san franciscans were appalled and called a general

strike most everyone stopped working. only then did the unions get their victory. but the spirit of union solidarity hasn't seemed as strong. no longer are unions tieing to win new benefits they're fighting to hang on to what they have. and still, it seems the unions are losing more than we're winning. 35% of all working americans belonged to unions. now only 15% do. labor historians say the turning point was when president reagan fired striking air traffic controllers in 1981. other notable failures the strike against greyhound in 1990 and last year's united auto workers strike against caterpillar and illinois. 12,000 striking workers returned without winning a single demand. >> unions and institutions are clearly weaker today than they were in the new dill period.

that's a given. >> and the historian and labor organizer we talked to today say they fear conditions for workers will get worse with more and more populations converting full time jobs to part time jobs. when we come back on a second look, john steinbeck wrote about farm workers. the reality in salinas was more violent.

the salinas valley is a mostly peaceful and pastoral place. but that was not always so. we take a look back in this

year 2000. >> reporter: in the 1930s, california farm workers began to demand better working conditions, wages were low and they lived in poverty. but agriculture was making people rich. green lettuce had pushed to the top of the grocery store. half of the nation's came from here. >> the exporters were given more money. the needs of the workers who are neglected. >> reporter: federal law prevented filipino women to enter. >> he went home into barracks, had very rudimentay work

there. they formed an alliance with the white packing. the strike was effective for a few weeks until the white packers settled with managers. the filipinos was standing on the sidewalk in salinas september 16, and the fresh still fresh in his mind. trying to make a living on the packing ship. on that day that herb henry remembers, strikers were trying to stop lettuce from going to the shed. >> one of the trucks were

sitting on if lettuce. and there was a guy on top with -- a full fledged brawl ensued. he calls for individual ran cy crashes. my uncle were patrols from shotguns. >> reporter: they hired their own security. >> they got into that. >> reporter: brass knuckles el people carried anything to support themselves.

it turned out to be the most violent day. among the people watching the strike was john strike that fort's dispossessed families that looked for work on philadelphia fields. the novel was a success but he in longer was considered.

>> he is considered a trader. here he is motivating the have notes. >> many people accused hip of being a communist. >> never was a communicate. >> reporter: instead, he shreuly pored the woeupb window for today. when we come -- we'll be right back.

when cesar chavez was organizing the workers union one person was with him all the way. for a quarter century she served as chavez ice right

hand. we spoke to dolores huerta. >> reporter: at 70 she still keeps a work schedule that would exhaust all of us. after flying in to san francisco for our interview she would fly out again. and would visit several cities. dolores huerta was the child of farm workers. got her college education, got married and eventually get her degree. crowded together in tents and shacks, slating for low wages. >> when you consider that we weren't able to get bathroom for fork rockers for many years that that's a grate of

degrading people. when you don't give them a toilet when they're out there working 20 to 30 miles out of town or cold drinking water. that's telling people, you're gnat really human, you're less than human. >> the two worked side by side in the movement for the next 25 years. garage julyly woning for park workers. better housing and access to public assessment. it was chavez who drew all the media attention. that was all right with huerta. >> a very strong individual in terms of his own convictions and not very easily swayed. very stubborn in some ways. once he decided to do something he was going to figure out a

chance to do it. >> reporter: they worked for better conditions of grape pickers. and asking the public not to eat grapes. store owners and some shoppers atacted to the union's tactics. >> allegedly taking customers pingtures and intimidating them. as they are entering the lot, preventing them from entering the private parking lot. >> i had to stop the car, i could not come in. they asked me not to buy grapes. first they said they were picketing. >> reporter: ultimately the

campaign succeeded. gray growers agrees to a new contract. >> you have been arrested some 27 times. weren't you scared out there. the only thing i've been oh with is the that day september 14 of 1998 in san francisco. >> on that day dfw demonstrators ramlied outside a bush rally. the san francisco s.w.a.t. team moved in. well a s.w.a.t. member begame closing in on her. jan twitter reportedly was at a video club. >> he hit me so hard that my spleen was pulled. the doctors said it was just in pieces. my ribs were bob enand i was given like 14 points of blood.

so i was welcome like gone. it was just a miracle that i was saved. >> then you won a big judgment. >> i did. and i have annuity for limiting. san francisco. >> so they ended up subsidizing your political career. >> right, right. >> i have more of an obligation to comet working. >> i attended a high school assembly in ontario. i like to say to the students that first of all the biggest shield we have on society, i like to say to students if you had to, if you were on a

deserted island and you could only take person person with you? a worker. >> reporter: when will sh go back to work. that's it for this week's second look. i'm julie haener, thank you for watching. umm... re, i'll show you. [ comic book expert ] luke cage's superhuman powers... thanks, anita. mom, how is paper recycled? anita! anita! [ male announcer ] answer life's most pressing questions. instantly. get high speed internet from at&t for only $14.95 a month for 12 months. at&t. ♪