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“Ah, beautiful South Naknek! Population 79.”

Yes, indeed.

“...he claimed the cannery worked its employees 16 hours a day, six, seven days a week for ten cents a day...”

It was an interesting setting/experience.

I mentioned the company Castle and Cooke (misspelled it in my prior post) — it owned BBS, Dole Pineapple and others.

The cannery was managed during the off season out of Astoria, OR. It was a place I applied to multiple years to work for but never got hired. I knew the office manager as her son and I were linked through Boy Scouts and I was always close with her.

One year She called me and mentioned that one of the crew shipping to Alaska in two days just broke his thumb and could I take his place. “Sure!”

The cannery was staffed by certain groups (all labor was ILWB unless otherwise noted - yes, that makes me a Longshoreman):

Pilipino men who did the majority of the DIRECT fish butchering (yes there were/are machines for that but they cleaned up lots that would have been waste) and the women worked on the canning line.

Machinists (Union) that handled the canning machines and the big diesel generators (electricity), Pipe Fitters (Union) that made sure the steam pipes/lines were working.

Cooks and servers for the food.

Housekeepers and laundry staff keeping the bunk rooms clean (we changed our sheets).

Carpenters for the myriad duties needed.

Cannery staff from several places:

Pilipinos and assorted whites from the ILWB main office outside Seattle, and a small, select group of my group - young men and women who’s parents usually had some direct connection to the Castle and Cooke BOD or the Executive branch or some good folks with a connection to the Astoria, OR office.

We worked for $6.75 an hour with a union contract guarantee of 6 days a week, OT after 40, double OT after 80, triple OT after 120. The 4th of July was 100% OT.

You HAD to clock out for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the cannery HAD to be cleaned and sanitized every day so you did get some sleep.

After a few years a person was trusted with more responsibility and my longest work week - 100% on the clock - was 121 1/2 hours - typical folks worked 70 hours or so perhaps up to 85 in a big week.

Lots of fun with especially when shifts slowed down we would walk to town, S. Naknek and buy beer to drink on the beach.

I met some really good folks there and several whom I still keep in touch with.

Jack London would have fit in well with the other ‘worker’ group at the Cannery - the ‘union boys’ who were always stirring the pot of dissension...