The Rise of IBBMISBWHA

As gargantuan a wartime phenomenon as the West Coast shipyards is their union: the alphabetically unpronounceable International Brotherhood of Boiler Makers, Iron Ship Builders, Welders & Helpers of America. Almost overnight World War II has made it one of the largest, probably the richest, certainly the most glamorous union en the war-busy West Coast.

Big. When the shipyards sprang up, everybody expected Harry Bridges' C.I.O. longshoremen's union to move in. But the A.F. of L.'s boilermakers got there first. Boilermakers are no longer boilermakers; the union includes welders, shipfitters, hook tenders, caulkers, riggers, shrinkers, flangers, "holder-ons." Some 70% of all shipyard workers in the West wear the union's button. But because payrolls change daily (men leave for the armed services, for better jobs), no one, not even union leaders, knows exactly how many members IBBMISBWHA has. Estimates are around 165,000 (Portland's local, largest, claims 50,000 members), and it is growing steadily.

Rich. In Portland a new nonunion worker pays $20 (helpers) to $30 (mechanics) as initiation fee, then $3 to $3.50 a month dues. In other cities fees and dues are almost as large. So, with perhaps 175,000 initiates since the war boom began, the union's take would be about $7,500,000.

Glamorous. White-haired, farsighted Thomas Ray, IBBMISBWHA's business agent in Portland, was a boilermaker during World War I's shipbuilding boom, saw union funds wasted then, decided to avoid similar squandering this time by building a marble-fronted palace for his union on Portland's Third Avenue. To querulous persons who wonder how this prevents waste, Tommy Ray explains: "This is no extravagance. When the boom is over, the money we'll make off our bowling alleys alone will keep the building going."

Union members, allowed to tour their building in groups of ten or 15 (except for first-floor visits to pay dues, basement trips to bowl), see a fac,ade of marble and glass brick, electric eyes to signal fouls by bowlers, a cocktail lounge with mahogany bar and deeply cushioned leather seats--a colossus of chrome and indirect lighting. Total cost: $269,000.

Bossed. Boss of all this size, wealth and glamor, as top man of West Coast boilermakers, is squarejawed, hotheaded Thomas John Crowe, 47, IBBMISBWHA's Pacific Coast international representative. He started as an apprentice at 13, earning 10-c- an hour heating rivets at Parsons, Kans., and has climbed the union ladder rung by rung. Belligerent, tough, willing to crack heads if necessary to get what he wants, Tom Crowe has the reputation of a square shooter. West Coast management knows him as a man who will keep his word, once given. When welders tried to break away from IBBMISBWHA in July 1941 to form a union of their own, Tom Crowe snapped them back into line. Said he: "We're going to have peace among unions, even if we have to fight to get it!" Other West Coast unions watch brawny IBBMISBWHA these days with wary, envious eyes. Said one San Francisco A.F. of L. official: "When you get a union that big, and one that grows that fast, you don't know whether the hell you've got a union or what you've got."

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