Tag: Seattle Metal Trades Council

Hellraisers Journal: From The Liberator: “Reflections on the Seattle General Strike by a Woman Who Was There”-Revolution?

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Anna Louise Strong, NO ONE KNOWS WHERE, SUR p1, Feb 4, 1919———-

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday April 29, 1919
Seattle General Strike: Revolution? -60,000 Striking Workers Run the City

From the New York Liberator of April 1919:

When Is a Revolution Not a Revolution

Reflections on the Seattle General Strike
by a Woman Who Was There

Seattle General Strike, Metal Trades Council, SUR p3, Feb 4, 1919

“A GENERAL STRIKE, called by regular unions of the American Federation of Labor, cutting across contracts, across international union constitutions, across the charter from the American Federation of Labor,”-this was what the chairman of the strike committee declared it to be. A General Strike in which the strikers served 30,000 meals a day, in which the Milk Wagon Drivers established milk stations all over town to care for the babies, in which city garbage wagons went to and fro marked “Exempt by Strike Committee”; a General Strike in which 300 Labor Guards without arms or authority went to and fro preserving order; in which the Strike Committee, sitting in almost continuous session, decided what activities should and should not be exempted. from strike in the interests of public safety and health, and even forced the Mayor to come to the Labor Temple to make arrangements for lighting the city.

Yet almost any member of the Strike Committee will tell you, in hot anger, that “this was no revolution, except in the Capitalist papers; it was only a show of sympathy and solidarity for our brothers in the shipyards.” And so in truth it was, in intention. It would seem that the beginnings of all new things take place, not through conscious intention, but through the inevitable action of economic forces.

Hardly yet do the workers of Seattle realize all the things they did.

The shipyard workers of Seattle struck, 35,000 strong, on [Tuesday] January 21st. On January 22, a request was brought to the Central Labor Council for a general strike in sympathy with the Metal Trades. This was referred to the various unions for referendum. By the following Wednesday, January 29, the returns were pouring in.

“Newsboys vote to strike and await instructions of Joint Strike Committee.” “Hotel maids vote 8 to 1 for strike.” “Waitresses expect to go strong for general strike.” Foundry employees, butchers, structural iron workers, milk wagon drivers, garment workers, carpenters, barbers, building laborers, longshoremen, painters, glaziers, plasterers, cooks and assistants, these were among the votes to come in the first week.
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Hellraisers Journal: The Ohio Socialist: “The History of the Seattle General Strike” from the Seattle Union Record

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Anna Louise Strong, NO ONE KNOWS WHERE, SUR p1, Feb 4, 1919———-

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday March 29, 1919
The History of the Seattle General Strike: Organization

From The Ohio Socialist of March 26, 1919:

THE SEATTLE GENERAL STRIKE


(HERE IS THE HISTORY OF THE SEATTLE GENERAL STRIKE
AS APPEARED IN THE SEATTLE UNION RECORD)
—–

Seattle General Strike, Now See, SUR p2, Feb 6, 1919

Four days before the strike actually took place, the meetings of the General Strike Committee began. With their first session on Sunday, Feb. 2, 1919, authority over the strike passed from the Central Labor Council, which had sent out the call, and from the Metal Trades Council which had asked it, and was centered in a committee of over 300 members, elected from 110 local unions and the Central Labor Council, for the express purpose of managing the strike.

The first meeting was called in order at 8:35 in the morning and continued is session until 9:30 that evening, with short intermissions for meals. From this time on until the close of the strike, there were meetings daily and at almost all hours of day and night, of either this General Strike Committee, or of the Executive Committee of fifteen which it delegated some of its authority. The volume of business transacted was tremendous; practically every aspect of the city’s life came before the strike committee for some decision.

A general strike was seen, almost at once, to differ profoundly from any of the particular strikes with which the workers of Seattle were familiar. It was not enough, as some of the hasty enthusiasts declared, to “just walk out.” The strikers were at once brought face to face with the way in which the whole community, including their own families, is inextricably tied together. If life was not to be made unbearable for the strikers themselves, problems of management of selection and exemption had to take the place of the mush simpler problem of keeping everyone out of work.

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Hellraisers Journal: From The Ohio Socialist: “Side Lights on The Seattle Strike” by An Observer

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Anna Louise Strong, NO ONE KNOWS WHERE, SUR p1, Feb 4, 1919———-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday February 20, 1919
Notes on the Seattle General Strike from an Observer

From The Ohio Socialist of February 19, 1919:

Side Lights on Seattle Strike
By An Observer

Seattle General Strike, Solidarity by I Swenson, SUR p1, Feb 11, 1919

The five-day general strike of 70,000 Seattle workmen and working women brought about by the refusal of General Mgr. Piez of the Emergency Fleet Corporation to allow ship yard workers to negotiate directly with their employers and threatening to cut off the supply of steel to the local yards if they negotiated directly with the workers, was the most complete walkout that has ever occurred in America. At the same time it was the most peaceful.

The week’s mail has brought us some strike bulletins issued by the strike committee of the workers, and a personal letter from which we quote below. The whole tone of the bulletin is against any interference of the processes of the law or violence of any kind. It repeatedly advises the workers to “keep cool” and to visit the public libraries. The A. F. of L. takes entire responsibility for the strike though of course the I. W. W. and the Socialist Party were active participants.

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Hellraisers Journal: “The Hour Has Struck!” & “Wheels Stop Turning” -Seattle General Strike Begins at 10 A. M.

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Anna Louise Strong, NO ONE KNOWS WHERE, SUR p1, Feb 4, 1919—–

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday February 6, 1919
Seattle, Washington – General Strike Begins at 10 A. M.

From the Seattle Union Record of February 6, 1919:

Seattle General Strike, Wheels Stop Turning, SUR p1, Feb 6, 1919

“NOW SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO”

Seattle General Strike, Now See, SUR p2, Feb 6, 1919

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Hellraisers Journal: 110 Seattle Unions Call for General Strike to Begin Thursday at 10 A. M.; 60,000 Workers Will Join Walk-Out

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Seattle General Strike, Set for Thursday, SUR p1, Feb 3, 1919—–

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday February 4, 1919
Seattle, Washington – General Strike of 60,000 Workers Set for Thursday

Seattle General Strike, All Unions To Go Out, SUR p1, Feb 3, 1919

Seattle General Strike, Announcement Delaney, SUR p1, Feb 3, 1919

At 10 o’clock next Thursday morning 60,000 organized workers in the city of Seattle will stand shoulder to shoulder in the first general strike that has ever been successfully inaugurated in the history of this country. Insolently and contemptuously Mr. Charles Piez and his labor-snubbing shipping board threw down the defiant gauntlet which has now been taken up with a firmness of resolution and a solidarity unmatched in the annals of the American Labor movement.

The workers of the northwest believe that they have been flouted and fooled by Piez and his fellow labor-baiters, that they have been deceived and betrayed by the politicians, both state and federal, and they have resolutely grasped the only weapon over which they have any direct control, determined to make a fight that will demonstrate whether or not they have the power to secure the justice that has been denied them by industrial barons and bureaucratic despots.

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Hellraisers Journal: Seattle Union Record: “More Unions Favor Strike”-Electrical Workers’ Union Votes to Endorse

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote John McKelvey re Stt GS Shipyards, SUR p1, Jan 27, 1919—–

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday February 2, 1919
Seattle, Washington – City Braces for General Strike

From the Seattle Union Record of January 31, 1919:

Seattle General Strike, More Unions Favor and Electrical, SUR, Jan 31, 1919

With every vote in the affirmative, Electrical Workers’ Union No. 16 went down the line for the General sympathetic strike Thursday night.

“We propose to stand by the Metal Trades Council because the Metal Trades Council is right,” said William Delaney, speaking for the union following the meeting, “and because we recognize that this is a class struggle.”

Other unions which last night went on record for the general strike were the sheet metal workers and the lady barbers, the latter by a unanimous vote. The cigarmakers endorsed the strike with the same unanimity.

The street car men at meetings held Thursday afternoon and Thursday evening voted to hold referendums at the various car barns all day Saturday.

———-

[Emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Seattle Union Record: Thousands Cheer for Big Strike as Mass Meeting Jams Hippodrome to the Doors

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote John McKelvey re Stt GS Shipyards, SUR p1, Jan 27, 1919—–

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday January 28, 1919
Seattle, Washington – “Mass Meeting Endorses Big Strike”

From the Seattle Union Record of January 27, 1919:

Seattle General Strike, Mass Meeting Endorses, SUR p1, Jan 27, 1919

SHIPWORKERS ARE IN FIGHT TO WIN
—–

Jamming the big Hippodrome to its doors with cheering thousands on Sunday afternoon [January 26th], the Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders and Helpers held what was probably the largest and most enthusiastic meeting of organized labor which has been held in the Northwest.

The last doubt, if one still existed, that the big union stood behind the industrial battle as one man was dispelled by the meeting. Impressed not only with what it meant to them, but what it means to all of labor, a motion to endorse the strike was carried by a unanimous standing vote and three rousing cheers.

Jack Duschack, business agent of the union, was the first to speak. He told the story of the endeavor of the Metal Trades Council to secure living wages for the workers.

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