Controversy, Trial, and Imprisonment

The establishment of Local 8 led Fletcher and the IWW to expand their labor organizing work to Baltimore, but without the same level of success. In Philadelphia the union continued to face opposition from the city’s business and government leaders and competition from the ILA, but Local 8 held strong against these attempts and became the dominant influence on the Philadelphia waterfront.

The 1913 IWW convention was held in Chicago, and Fletcher attended on behalf of Philadelphia Local 57, the National Industrial Union of Marine Transport Workers (NIUMTW) affiliate, while James H. Murphy, an Irish American, represented Local 8. Issues related to the seating of both Fletcher and Murphy were debated and resolved, in large part due to the sheer numbers and influence of Local 8 within the IWW, but tensions between the local and national organizations created problems in following years.

Fletcher continued to organize workers in Philadelphia and other cities along the East Coast from his position as secretary of the IWW District Council. Although he focused his efforts on African American dockworkers who had been excluded from the ILA, he continued to practice as well as preach racial harmony and worker solidarity. Fletcher made public appearances with IWW organizers John J. Walsh, an Irish American, and Jack Lever, an immigrant from Russia.

World War I created both problems and opportunities, as the socialist-oriented IWW could not be perceived as being anti-American, particularly when the United States officially entered the war in 1917. Workers were in demand on the home front, as many men were called into military service, and the longshoremen worked consistently in support of the war effort. As a result, Local 8 called for only one work stoppage during the war.

Even though the longshoremen’s work stoppage lasted only one day (May 15, 1917, in celebration of the fourth anniversary of Local 8), during the fall of 1917 the U.S. Department of Justice raided the two IWW locations in Philadelphia and confiscated records and documents. Shortly afterwards, warrants were issued for the arrest of Fletcher and nearly two hundred other Wobblies across the country. The men were charged with interfering with the Selective Service Act, violating the Espionage Act of 1917, conspiring to strike, violating the rights of employers holding government contracts, and using the mail to defraud employers.

Ben Fletcher was the only African American among the IWW leaders and membership who were arrested. The IWW established the General Defense Committee (GDC) to raise funds and secure legal counsel on their behalf. Local 8 members sold liberty bonds and gave generously, which helped the defendants and their families.

Records of funds distributed indicated that Fletcher’s wife received $10 a weekfrom the GDC to support her and a son; she would later apply for additional assistance from a Philadelphia charitable organization. This is the earliest known documentation of Fletcher as a husband and parent. Other sources note that his wife was white, and that he also had a white stepdaughter, but no biological children. With his arrest, his family lost its primary breadwinner, and Local 8 had to operate without one of its most respected members and effective leaders.

Fletcher was again the only African American among the one hundred men and one woman who were indicted by a grand jury, tried, and convicted in Chicago; twelve others were released during the course of the trial. The presiding judge was Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who later became the first commissioner of Major League Baseball in 1920. After four months of testimony, the jury deliberated less than an hour before finding Fletcher and his co-defendants guilty on all counts. In separate trials, forty-six IWW members were also convicted in Sacramento, California, and twenty-six in Wichita, Kansas.

On August 30, 1918, Judge Landis sentenced Fletcher to ten years in prison and fined him $30,000 plus court costs, a tremendous amount of money at the time, while some of his colleagues received twenty-year sentences. Despite the seriousness of the situation, reports indicate that Fletcher maintained his sense of humor while protesting the injustice and unfairness of the trial, verdict, and sentence.