A Very Proud History We Live Up To
The Longshoremen’s Protective Union started organizing on the St. John’s waterfront in 1890. They officially became unionized in 1903 after multiple work stoppages and strikes. The union’s renown springs from its longevity and its feisty character.
Michael P. Gibbs was the first LSPU Lawyer, and he later became the Mayor of St. John’s.
Matthew Fleming was the first Local 1953 Organizer and he enforced the first collective agreement, stopping work if he found non-union workers on the job. Jim McGrath was a leader of the LSPU in these early days and was involved with the political process and helped various of families in need. In 1939, President William Sullivan met the King of England at Government House and stood up for the labour movement throughout the entire Province.
The original home of the LSPU was 3 Victoria Street, which is known today as the LSPU Hall. It was frequented by many people in the labour movement for meetings, strike votes and debates affecting working class people from across the province. The LSPU had many championship teams in the regatta and tug of war teams in competitions against other working class labour institutions. The LSPU sold the building at 3 Victoria Street to the Resource Center for the Arts in 1976.
St. John’s and fish plant workers were once organized under LSPU locals in the province, and in 1968, the LSPU signed a Charter with Thomas (Ted) Gleason of the International Longshoremen’s Association (I.L.A.) of New York City, NY, becoming known as LSPU (I.L.A.) Local 1953. Local 1953 had 34 gangs composed of 3,500 members when cargo was unloaded by hand and muscle on the older conventional vessels.
With the mechanization and containerization of the shipping industry, the membership level gradually fell to today’s approximately 150 members. The LSPU once had five local chapters in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and we are proud to be the oldest active union in the province.
