[Trade Journal]
Publication: State of Washington Bureau of Labor Twelfth Biennial Report
Olympia, WA, United States
p. 16-18, col. 1
STRIKES
Many labor difficulties confronted the industrial life of the state during the past two years . It can be said that the biennial has witnessed struggles between employer and employee of such magnitude that many sober and earnest students of our economic life were fearful of the perpetuity of our institutions.
Happily, serious results of any permanent nature were averted by the good common sense of municipal, county and state officials, supported by the business interests and backed up by the conservative and fair-minded elements in the labor unions.
Strikes have been so numerous in the years of 1919 and 1920 that they can only be tabulated for the most part in this report, brief comment being made on the one engaging public attention throughout the country.
The outstanding strike of the biennial being the general strike in Seattle and Tacoma in the early part of 1919.
In January occurred the strike of the shipyard workers in the plants in Seattle and Tacoma over the failure of the shipbuilding company to grant demands for a wage scale of $8, $7 and $6 per day for mechanics, craftsmen and unskilled workers, respectively. On February 6th, the general strike, the first in the history of the United States, was called. Practically every industry in Seattle was at a standstill. Street cars stopped and even the jitney service was spasmodic. Light and power was furnished for everything but street cars, only after conferences were held by strike committees and city officials.
The strike affected 70,000 workers directly. Of these, 30,000 were shipyard workers already out and the rest were sympathy strikers.
Many stores and industrial plants opened up the morning of February 6th and closed at the strike hour of 10 a. m. At 9:40 a.m. every street car in the city was withdrawn from the streets and hundreds stood at the corners waiting for jitney busses to carry them to their homes. These ran until 10 o'clock when they too were withdrawn — placards being placed on windshields which read, "It's too late."
The sympathy strike was of comparatively short duration. There was little public sentiment behind it and lacking the support of the conservative element in organized labor it was foredoomed to failure. It has been demonstrated on innumerable occasions that any great issue, to succeed, must have the moral backing of the community in which the movement occurs. On February 11th the strike was officially declared off and all the industries with the exception of the shipyards resumed operations.
Through all the uncertainties and turmoil of the days following the beginning of the general strike the sober-mindedness of the average citizen of the city was amply shown. With calm assurance he went through the usual routine of his existence. The results of these struggles between the elements which make up our industrial life are sufficient proof that the great American heart is right in the final analysis and the average citizen, tranquil and resolute, notes the drifting of the emotional currents of life and calmly awaits the full disclosures of the coming day.
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