The case for locating the container story on the West Coast was strengthened by other factors as well. Settings in America on the Move are meant to immerse visitors in a specific time and place, a moment in history when something changed or something out of the ordinary happened—when a transportation issue divided a community, a conflict simmered, a good idea was embraced, the unintended consequences of a decision were revealed, a community’s identity was tested. The introduction of container technology was one such “moment,” and the response by longshoremen of the West Coast’s ILWU (International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union) had all the ingredients of a good story—conflict, charismatic leaders, money, and more.
Harry Bridges, who had led the union since its founding in 1937, realized that the container revolution was inevitable. On behalf of the ILWU, Bridges negotiated a labor agreement that was meant to compensate longhoremen for lost jobs and wages resulting from containerization and other mechanized cargo-handling techniques.
Local 10 longshoreman Herb Mills and his partner Peter H. Brown at work in the hold of a break-bulk ship in the 1960s. Cargos in these ships were packed in sacks, bales, boxes, and barrels, or were handled individually, as in the case of heavy machinery. It often took a week or more to load or discharge cargos in conventional freighters. Containerization greatly reduced, but did not eliminate, all break-bulk operations.
