deadly battles on the streets of san francisco. the waterfront strike of 1934 and the funerals that followed. >> men get their brains beat up. men and women were out about a stump out and club and went to jail. >> reporter: a bay area union organizer reflects on the price paid for workers's rights. it's all straight ahead tonight on a second look. good evening and welcome to a second look. i'm julie haener. tonight a look back at the violent history of the bay

area's labor movement. as san francisco marks the 80th anniversary of the 1934 general strike. the strike began when longshoremen walked off the job protesting brutal working conditions. ktvu's george watson first brought us this story in 2000. >> it's the worse industrial disturbance that san francisco has seen in many years. >> san francisco was one of the busiest sea ports in the world when 12,000 longshoremen went out on strike. they shut down the ports and peers of the entire west coast. it was may nine, 1934. >> completely demoralized through inability of gas stations to replenish their supplies. nerve centers on strike at the food mart. the big hotels have closed the doors of their restaurants to the general public and the few

eating places still open and able to get supplies to a rushing business. >> 65 days after the strike began, the anger and frustration coalesed. >> on tuesday july 3rd, 90 ships were idle to san francisco docks. the three day bad -- battle ended here. 5,000 longshoremen and their supporters showed up to stop the trucks. 700 san francisco policeman showed up to stop the longshoremen. at precisely 1:27 in the afternoon, five trucks rolled out of pier 38 and the battle was joined. >> police and cars, horse back, on foot, armed with tear gas. assault guns, provided the protection. drivers came out of the dark.

with the floats. >> reporter: it was rocks and bricks and fists against tear gas, calvary shotguns and survivors. >> police in san francisco were openly and also viciously anti union. commit entirely to the employers tactics throughout the strike. >> reporter: the waterfront was quite on the fort with both sides observing the fireworks. not one battle but a series of small battles. >> [shots being fired ] >> police opened fire with more

tear gas. today the mammoth cables of bay bridge are rooted in conflict. strikers have the high ground and again it's bricks and rocks against tear gas and guns. >> the strikers hurled down objects. they started moving down and there were some gunshots fired. >> it moved from straight across stewart street. and then 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 mark the spot where death sobered legitamecy. by mid-afternoon the governor called out the national guard. >> the situation is so tense that 1,500 national guards men had been assigned to patrol the

area with 5,000 more in reserve. >> i have argued the national guard of california to move into san francisco strike area to safeguard life. to protect state property and to preserve. >> with the city virtually in the grip of law, men women and children are at stake. >> the battle found moved on to a new level. troops were armed with bayonets and machine guns. almost immediately control of the waterfront shifted to the military. but that didn't end it. five days later the city of san francisco was witnessed to another spectacle. the funeral procession of the two men gunned down on bloody thursday. thousands of grim faced men marched peacefully down market street. the moment marked a turning

point in support for the longshoreman and the maritime workers. a general strike was organized calling for an end to the violence in the waterfront. on july 16, nothing moved in the city. streetcars, taxis, trains, virtually everything shutdown. >> food for 1.5 million people come in. fresh fruit, california's pride and boast and the backbone of her diet is unloaded and distributed to the strong citizens. >> reporter: the anger and the power behind it was enough to force an end to the waterfront strike after 86 days on the job, more than 32,000 maritime workers and shore men went back to work from san diego to the canadian border. what had they won? >> they ended up with never again will we see the day when

men will be chosen to go to work off the middle of the street like they were dogs. they gave us a right so we could choose our men on a system of fairness. >> the places where this chapter in san francisco history were written are gone today or almost unrecognizable. high rise condominiums grace the landscape where ships and the men who built them once road the way. for better or worse this is where the character of this story place was forever forged on that bloody thursday in july 46 years ago. still to come on a second look, he spent his life fighting against tyranny and for the dignity of the worker. >> he practically was on his hands and knees most of the time trying to get a job. >> and a bit later a deadly bombing in san francisco.

and the false testimony on the trial that put one labor organizer behind bars for decades.

welcome back to a second look as we reflect on the bay area's labor history. one man who devoted his life to the fight for workers rights was celebrated longshoremen bill bailey. his wife was the stuff of movies fighting against the bosses at home and the fastest government of spain in the 1930s. ktvu's rob roth interviewed bailey several times and filed this report in 1995 when bailey died at the age of 84. >> this san francisco pier was empty today. no cargo ships to load or unload. in a port where thousands over longshoremen work today only supports 100. this pier perhaps is a symbol.

>> nothing is ever handed to a man or woman on a silver platter. it has to be fought for and once you have it it has to be protected. >> reporter: bill bailey granted various interviews to news 2 usually on labor day. to remind people that when you get a sick day, or day off it was fought with sweat and blood. >> you were on the waterfront, you stood in line like a dog, formed a circle outside of the pier. you stand in the circle, a boss would come out, a hiring boss would come out and say, i will take you.

charlie i will take you too. jim come on in. okay i have enough men, the rest of you guys get the hell out of here. the flop and particular boardinghouse was controlled by the shipping crimp, the company crimp, he was practically on his hands and knees most of the time trying to get a job. sort of hat in the hand all that kind of stuff. when he got the job he probably had to pay off a little bit here and there. it was absolutely degrading. by the summer of 1934 the longshoremen said enough is enough. they went on strike and shutdown the national port. this outraged most of san francisco and workers all over called a general strike shutting down the city. finally the shipping companies caved in. >> many working people come out of the scenes and they think, when they come in to a good job and the conditions are great there. they have no idea how it came

about. >> no idea that men got their brains beat out. men and women were all about the stump out and club and went to jail. fought for these type of conditions. >> reporter: after that labor battle, baley went to spain. he was a socialist believing the common person should be respected and provided a job and that no one should have to sleep on the street. he was blacklisted for his views during the mccarthy era but became misillusioned with the repressiveness of the union and other communists companies. >> when we seethese things happen we say jesus christ what went wrong with this tremendous dream everybody had. that was the ideal society. still until the end of his life

bill bentley remained a true believer that working people must stick together. stand firm and that one day the have notes will have enough. >> main thing is to have hope that something can be done and you're going to do something about it. if you leave on that premises, then you're in good shape. >> still to come on a second look. he was sentenced to life behind bars for a deadly san francisco bombing. the campaign to free a labor organizer railroaded into prison. >> and a bit later the women steppeded in when the men went off to war. bay area women who followed in the steps of rosie the riveter.

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history. bob mackenzie filed this report on the flaw conviction of tom mooney. >> reporter: july 22nd, 1916 was called preparedness day by the organizers of this parade up market street. they the organizers were san francisco's establishment. the chamber of commerce, the conservative business elite. the idea of the parade was to stir up patriotic ceilings and interest into the european war. what we now call world war i. hurst mother of the -- what the spectators didn't see were the people who were not in the parade. the city's labor unions had been invited to march but most had refused. most unions were against the war. it would be working men and their sons after all that would have to fill those trenches and die in far away places for a

cause that seemed remote to them. still the parade seemed festive and stirring to the crowd that lined the sidewalks. and a suitcase someone that left on the sidewalk exploded. a hurst newsreel camera reached the scene. in a melee of confusion, wounded people were being carried to ambulances. bodies were being loaded into vans other bodies were being searched by police to find identification inside their bloody clothes. authorities looked for someone to blame. they found the culprit in tom mooney a radical.

mooney carried a banner. he became a thorn in the side to businesses. swanson was hired to find evidence against mo -- mooney. he said it was a time of all outwar between unions and minnesotament. >> whatever the employers or the workers could get away with -- unions and management. the los angeles times was blown up by iron workers. because harrison otis the owner of the los angeles town was very anti union. >> a union militant might also be a bomber. warren billings one of billings associate was arrested. when mooney returned he also was arrested so was his wife.

at his trial for murder, witnesses against mooney told what were later exposed as lies. mcdonald testified he saw billings and mooney at the scene of the crime with a briefcase. years later he reputeuated all his testimony. he said he saw mooney and others arrive in a jitney. this is itto and others claiming to see mooney too. they said it was because they were physically present in one place but spiritually present in the other. >> we know for sure he is innocent. first there was a photograph taken that shows mooney in it a couple of minutes before the bombings went off 1.5 miles from when it happened. there's a clock in the photo. when enlarged the clock shows

two minutes before two. that was eight minutes before the explosion. even if mooney left before the photo was taken he could not have arrived at the bombing scene at time. but the jury never saw that photo. the the judge decided it was not admissible. though the testimony against him fell apart as the witnesses lies became known, efforts to get him a new trial failed. one california governor after another denied him of pardon. the years crawled by. finally in may 1933 mooney's lawyer got him a new trial and he was allowed to make a statement to the press. >> i have served 17 years of a cruel and unjust imprisonment for the reason that i was an active trade unionist battling the battles of working people and today i am today their symbol of struggle. ladies and gentlemen i want to

thank you for your kind, understanding attention here tonight. and i hope that some day we will have the opportunity to meet under more ospacious circumstances. >> and shortly after he was released, there was a parade tom mooney at the head of it. hundreds of thousands of spectators walked up blowing kisss to the crowd. >> mooney died six years later. he had lost years of his life but never lost his defiant spirit. >> world war ii and the real

life story of rosie the riveter, when we return. >> we were a warehouse full of women who all had men some place in the world and it was every day you were afraid to ask. did you get a letter? did you hear? >> working in bay area shipyards for the war effort. still ahead on a second look.

welcome back to a second look. with a look at the bay area labor movement. when world ii took off, the u.s. maritime commission required companies to extend jobs to women and minorities who had been previously excluded. rob roth reported on some of the women who answered the call in this report from 2000.

>> more than 100 women arrived at marina bay park in richmond to accept their place in american history. when world war ii broke out and so many men went off to work it was up to these and tens of thousands of other women across the country to go to work building the ships, and tools. the symbol of the age was rosie the riveter. >> one of the rosies is mitchell who as an 18-year-old found herself in a union car as a union welder. up until then the only men were

welders. >> the work was really hard but i didn't think it that way. it was something i had to do. the only thing i could do to help those guys and get them back. >> reporter: today it's a park where used to be the shipyard. the country said thank you to honor lonnie richards, one of the rosie riveters. >> the work force a major work force in america was intergrated. whether you liked it or not you worked alongside somebody you may have never seen before in your life. you may have never known before in your life or you may have had an attitude about but you went to work because we were at war. >> reporter: marianne fin had just graduated high school when she first came to work here. >> and i had charge of the freight that came into the yard can you imagine. trusting me to get the turbines on the right ships and yeah. it was great. wore a hard hat. >> and she wore a heavy heart.

her fiance was in the south pacific. >> we were a warehouse full of women who all had men some place in the world. and it was every day you were afraid to ask. did you get a letter. did you hear? because every day someone got a telegram. so it was a growing up experience through it all. >> her fiance came home and from 1941 to 1945 more than 700 ships were constructed in richmond. and in that time, lettie mitchell went from being a novice welder to a professional. >> i didn't know about changing the machines and making it slow. but when i did find out, i was good at it. so i've been a good welder, i was a pretty welder too. i felt really good about it. >> when the war ended and the men came home most of the women lost their jobs. many including letty married and raised their children. her contribution and that of

the other women forgotten buried by years. but not anymore. not as long as people come to this park. and that's it for this  week's second look. i'm julie haener: thank you for watching.

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