On January 29, 1994 the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies brought together ILWU veterans, Pacific Northwestern activists, and academics to honor and remember the legacy of Harry Bridges and the tradition of dissent he inspired on the waterfront.
Martin "Jug" Jugum may have only referred to himself as a “working stiff,” but for over fifty years he was a key figure in the ILWU and central to the creation of the Harry Bridges Chair in Labor Studies at the University of Washington.
Jugum was born in Seattle in 1915 and raised in Aberdeen. In 1938, he went to work on the waterfront and joined the ILWU. Like many longshoremen, "Jug" joined the Army during World War II. After serving in Europe and on Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion, he returned to Seattle and the waterfront. Jugum held many elected positions in the ILWU, including business agent of Local 19, before his retirement in 1977. As the president of the Local 19 Pensioner’s Association in the 1980s and early 1990s, Jugum remained a dedicated supporter of the labor movement. In 1992, Jugum co-chaired the Harry Bridges Memorial Committee which established the Harry Bridges Chair in Labor Studies. "Jug" passed away in 1996.
Here Martin Jugum remembers Harry Bridges.
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