Trouble in Frisco

Labor unrest was a central concern for printmakers in the 1930s. Martin's lithograph depicts the maritime strike of 1934, which began when seamen and longshoremen stopped working along the entire Pacific Coast. In San Francisco, businesses were brought to a halt. The strike broke out into riots when the Industrial Association, a group of business interests, began to move cargo from the docks to warehouses. On the most violent of these days, called "Bloody Thursday," strikers were met by the teargas, batons, and gunshots of city police and the National Guard.