Longshoreman Bill Brawley represents the dockworkers in contract talks with their unscrupulous boss, Manson Kenwick, who tells his own sister, Norma, to take Bill's mind off negotiations. Meanwhile, the workers prepare for the waterfront boxing championships. They urge Bill to participate, but when he refuses because he promised Norma that he would not fight, they believe that he has sold out to management. Even Bill's sweetheart, Fen, now afraid of losing him to Norma, cannot convince him to box. On fight night, Bill attends a party at Kenwick's. He learns that Kenwick has persuaded the men to sign a pro-management agreement and also that the fighter for the Kenwick shipyard is injured. Bill rushes to the ring, wins the fight, forces Kenwick into a fairer agreement and tells Fen that he never stopped loving her.