Yardbird Blues

Description

Twenty-Five Years of a Wobbly in the Maritime Industry

By Arthur J. Miller
Introduction by Carlos Cortez
Black Cat Press

The book is about real workplace experiences and issues in the maritime industry such as workplace safety, general working conditions, environmentalism and how to begin to make earth-safe ships, the bosses, the unions, different types of ships, the great danger to workers and the environment of FOC ships and more. All from the viewpoint of a Wobbly twenty-five years in the maritime industry.

From the author:

YARDBIRD BLUES is a series of articles I wrote over the years on the maritime industry. Most have been published in Bayou La Rose, the Industrial Worker, and other publications.

This book could not have been written or completed without the influence and direct help of a number of people, all who happen to have been Wobblies. I wish to start off with acknowledging Wobbly old timers Frank Cedervall, “Blackie” Vaughan, Walter Westman, Carl Keller, Fred Thompson, and Fred Hansen who taught me what being a rebel worker was all about.

I wish to thank old time Wobbly and rebel longshoreman Gilbert Mers for giving me the encouragement and inspiration to write about work place experiences. I wish to thank my old friend and Fellow Worker Carlos Cortez for writing the introduction. I wish to thank the following younger Wobblies for reading over the manuscript and making it readable: Mark Damron, who spent many long hours working on this book, Joshua Freeze, Jason Adams and Paul Harris.