International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union

In the years following World War II, rank-and-file members of the International Longshoremen's Association became increasingly restive as a result of dissatisfaction with union contracts. Finally, in the fall of 1951, a series of unauthorized strikes was climaxed by a twenty-one day wildcat strike in the Port of New York. The strikers included several high-ranking ILA officials and a future president, Thomas Gleason. The strike ended when a board of inquiry to investigate the strikers' grievances was appointed by Edward Corsi, the New York State Industrial Commissioner. The so-called Corsi board uncovered several irregularities, including numerous fraudulent votes in the contract referendum. Shortly after this incident, the New York State Crime Commission hearings on the New York waterfront produced many sensational charges of corruption and racketeering against ILA officials, many of which were unproven. Nevertheless, embarassed by the charges and assuming the accuracy of the Crime Commission's findings, the AFL demanded a variety of reforms from ILA officials. When lengthy negotiations failed to produce a satisfactory agreement, the AFL suspended the ILA on September 22, 1953. Three days later the AFL issued a charter covering the old ILA jurisdiction to the International Brotherhood of Longshoremen (IBL).

In an NLRB representational election in December 1953, the ILA won by a comfortable majority. Thereafter, the IBL remained a factor on the waterfront but did not seriously challenge the ILA's hegemony. On November 17, 1959, the IBL merged with the ILA, which in turn reaffiliated with the AFL-CIO.

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