Biography
Thomas Bunker was a marine worker prosecuted with William Trajer and John Soderberg during the Independent Tidewater Boatmen's Union dispute in New York Harbor. The men denied the bombing accusations and challenged the prosecution's reliance on William Hoyle, whom their defense committee identified as a police informer. Bunker signed an appeal from the Tombs Prison dated November 24, 1931. He was sentenced to six and a half to twenty-five years for placing explosives in a vessel with intent to injure human life, and entered Sing Sing on April 25, 1932. He was later transferred to Attica, where a letter published in January 1935 identified him as prisoner 1674.
The November 9, 1932 Daily Worker prints the marine defendants as Sodaberg, Trager and Bunker and reports their appeal to the ILD for defense assistance after the ship-bombing convictions. A letter attributed to Sodaberg criticizes the former defense committee. The shared boatmen’s prosecution identifies the existing Soderberg, Trajer and Bunker cohort without new people. The report’s up-to-twenty-years wording differs from the more specific individual sentences already recorded; it is not substituted or treated as completed service. No new intake or release is supplied. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1932/v09-n268-NY-nov-09-1932-DW-LOC.pdf#page=2
The Militant, December 5, 1931, pages 1 and 4 publishes the Marine Workers’ Defense Committee appeal and the three defendants’ November 24 letter from the Tombs Prison denying involvement in the alleged New York Harbor bombing plot. The committee says a secret grand-jury indictment the night before the scheduled November 24 hearing avoided cross-examination of William Hoyle. It alleges the union hall was raided and padlocked and members intimidated. These are attributed defense allegations, not judicial findings. The threatened twenty-five-to-forty-year terms are prospective and do not replace later individual sentences or establish actual service. Source: https://www.themilitant.com/1931/0434/MIL0434.pdf
Young Spartacus individually lists T. Bunker with the Tidewater boatmen arrested Tuesday, November 17, 1931, and held at the Tombs. This sharpens the previously recorded month-only arrest. The reported $100,000 bail concerns the group and is not an individual assessment. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/youngspart/YS1931-32/jan1932.pdf#page=1
Page 6 prints an extract of his prison letter, identifying Thomas Bunker, prisoner 1674, Attica, New York. Its editorial note says he is serving six and a half to twenty-five years in the State Prison; Bunker disputes the accusation that he intended bodily harm. This is continuing-custody correspondence in the existing marine-worker case, without a fresh transfer day, admission or actual served total. The letter’s political endorsement of Soviet action remains the author’s view. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1935/v12-n014-not-15-Nat-jan-16-1935-DW-LOC.pdf
Labor Defender, March 1934, PDF page 25: Printed Thomas J. Bunker, he writes shortly before 1934 in support of organization and thanks the ILD for a money order. He reports pay of five cents per working day, with half permitted for spending. The caption gives six and a half to twenty-five years imposed and ten months served at this intermediate reporting point; it does not replace separately documented later service. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/labordefender/1934/v10n03-mar-1934-orig-LD.pdf#page=25
The November 18 report identifies these seamen as arrested in the alleged explosives plot, which the newspaper denounced as a police frame-up. The paper distinguishes their union faction from Communist Party membership. The allegations are not presented as an adjudicated finding; exact custody endpoints and completed duration are unknown. Daily Worker, November 18, 1931, original PDF page 1. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1931/v08-n277-NY-nov-18-1931-DW-LOC.pdf#page=1
Labor Age, February 1932: Sylvan A. Pollack names him more fully as Thomas J. Bunker and reports that he and Trajer were seized later on the arrest day in a police raid on the Brooklyn barge where Trajer worked. The article attributes brutal police interrogation to an attempt to obtain confessions and reports an ACLU plan for legal action. A January 7 defense meeting drew over 500 people. The threatened 25-to-40-year penalty was prospective and does not replace the later individual sentence. PDF page 28. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/laborage/v21n02-feb-1932-labor-age.pdf#page=28
The February 20, 1936 Daily Worker placed Bunker at Attica State Prison under a six-and-a-half to twenty-five-year sentence. It said he had become eligible for parole on January 1; eligibility is not an actual release.
The Militant, December 5, 1931; relevant page stated in the accompanying profile note.
Daily Worker, January 16, 1935; relevant page stated in the accompanying profile note.
The Political Prisoners’ Club statement printed in the July 31, 1934 Daily Worker identifies Thomas Bunker as Attica prisoner 1674 and a member of the Marine and Harbor Workers Union of New York. It alleges that Warden Hunt restricted him to two personal correspondents, barred mail to and from his union or its members, and withheld letters accompanying International Labor Defense money orders. The club called for protests against these restrictions. These are attributed contemporary allegations about correspondence during the existing imprisonment, not a new custody episode, transfer date or measured duration.
