The 1934 Big Strike was the single-most important event in the history of the SUP, and ranks among the two or three truly pivotal occasions in the history of the American working class. On a national level, the militancy of 1934 helped created the legal foundations of the labor movement, beginning with the National Labor Relations Act in 1935. For the SUP the Big Strike forms the foundation of many of the Union's contracts, rules and traditions.

In the last days of the strike before returning to work, Andrew Furuseth convinced the membership to make a grand gesture that would be picked up by the national press and "shown on screens around the country." His idea centered on the hated "fink book," which was required to secure a job from the government-sanctioned but corrupt and shipowner-controlled Shipping Offices. The Union had fought against the indignity since it was introduced at least a decade earlier, but had up until now been impotent against it. So the sailors gathered in a vacant lot next to the Sailors' hall and built what Furuseth called a "beautiful and horrible bonfire." Each man dipped his hated "fink book" in gasoline and tossed it into the fire. It was a brilliant and effective maneuver, and although the battle was not over, it announced to the world that henceforth the Sailors' Union would control the hiring process. Andrew Furuseth is third from right in suit and tie.