The Price of Plumbing in 1892
After a hard-fought strike in Seattle, plumbers accepted a pay cut with a promise of restoration by spring—a familiar cycle for the city's labor history.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The plumbers' strike has finally been declared off, the journeymen returning to work at reduced wages with the understanding that the old rate will be restored on May 1, if business warrants it. The compromise was reached through a conference between a committee from the Master Plumbers' Association and one from the Plumbers' Union. The agreement further provides that all the old men are to be re-employed as fast as the bosses have work for them, and apprentices who have been working as jobbers are to be continued as such. The bosses feel sure that business will warrant the return to the former standard of wages, as they feel that rates have been too high as compared with wages in other trades, and higher than the profits on the business in the future will stand. The journeymen, on the other hand, feel just as confident that, when business improves in the summer, they will be able to enforce a demand for the restoration of the old rates.
“The journeymen, on the other hand, feel just as confident that, when business improves in the summer, they will be able to enforce a demand for the restoration of the old rates.”
This 1892 labor dispute echoes the persistent tension in Seattle between skilled laborers seeking fair wages and an industry perpetually citing 'market conditions' to keep costs down. More than 130 years later, the cycle of strike-and-compromise remains a fundamental rhythm of the city's construction economy.
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