Certificate

Certificate issued in recognition of the support given by London Dockers to the Canadian Seamen's Union in 1949. The CSU had been formed in 1936 to try and obtain improved working conditions for men in Canadian merchant vessels. The union was bitterly opposed by the shipping companies who provoked a dispute in April 1949. The consequent strike was bitter and brutal, and the shipping companies recruited rival unions and dockers in New York and Canada to drive CSU members from their ships and break the strike. In London, the CSU asked for a boycott of the 'Beaverbrae' and the 'Argomont' and when the Port of London Authority attempted to unload the ships, the London dock workers went on strike, bringing the port to a standstill for a number of weeks until the Board of Trade brought in armed forces personnel to handle the cargoes. Similar strikes took place in Liverpool and Bristol. In London, the 15,000 striking dockers eventually returned to work in 1949 at the request of the CSU who had gained a number of concessions.