Labor Clash at Schwabacher’s Wharf
A schooner captain's attempt to use non-union crew to unload freight leads to police intervention and a tense standoff.
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 three-masted schooner Sailor Boy arrived yesterday from San Francisco, after a voyage of seventeen days. She brought 100 tons of freight, which she is discharging at Schwabacher’s wharf. The schooner carries a non-union crew, and it was Capt. Peterson’s intention to have the crew unload the vessel. Local union men objected, and Capt. Peterson called on Chief Jackson for protection. Officers were detailed to the scene, but the non-union men declined to work on the dock through fear of threats. Consequently, the captain hired union men to receive the goods on the dock, and put his non-union men in the hold to handle cargo. The work proceeded under the eye of a policeman.
“The result was that non-union men slung the merchandise which was hoisted and received by union men, all under the eye of a policeman.”
Labor disputes at Seattle's waterfront were a defining feature of the city's growth in the late 19th century. The tension between imported 'non-union' labor and established local unions remains a resonant theme in current debates regarding gig-work and the organization of modern supply chains.
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