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William McCuiston, Joe Bianca, and the young Bill Bailey.42 Many of the rank and
filers of the MWIU also joined the party, and many of those who did not could
rightly be considered part of the broader communist movement. In an interview,
Bill Bailey has recalled how seamen in those days were very open to the ideas of
revolutionary unionism and Communism:
Hell, there were times in Baltimore when I would recruit two or three
Communists every week among the seamen. When you are in a mass,
hundreds of seamen, and you are working with people, you always have a
chance to pick the best. We didn't open up our arms to everybody coming
in. No we don't want to, we just wanted guys who were dedicated and who
knew what the hell was happening, and who wanted to participate in this,
and so forth. We took the best of them. And some of them we wouldn't
take. Said, "No, you're boozing too much, what do you think this is another
gin null or something? No, you've got to have responsible people. Sober
up.
Bailey writes elsewhere that the Communist Party in the port of Baltimore
operated with some autonomy from the party in the city and had its own "waterfront
leadership." Nonetheless, as mentioned above, it is clear that the Baltimore party
as a whole was, from 1932 on, deeply involved with the MWIU. Conversely, MWIU
leader Oscar Everett, for one example, had party responsibility far beyond the
docks as party organizer for Maryland and the District of Columbia. Moreover, the
national party periodically sent Communists and MWIU members to Baltimore to
observe and learn from the functioning of the Soviet.
The Communist Party also attempted to link the MWIU-led waterfront
struggle with other struggles in the city. Radical maritime workers, especially Black
workers, were prominent in city-based CP demonstrations, actions, and events. For
example, two African American maritime workers appeared on the CP's 1934
election ticket - longshoreman Samuel Gates ran for the U.S. Senate and seaman
Bruce Parker ran for clerk of the court of appeals. The Afro-American endorsed
them both. Indeed, the Afro-American frequently took notice of the role of Black
maritime workers in CP events, but only in early 1934 is there evidence that the
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