Who Gets to Work the Docks?
A court ruling on the labor of foreign sailors in local ports highlights the fierce competition for maritime jobs in 1890s Tacoma.
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.
TACOMA, April 13—Capt. Jorgenson, of the Norwegian ship Hiawatha, was dismissed today by United States Commissioner Clifford on the charge of having employed alien contract labor in this city. Jorgenson's attorneys cited instances where captains of vessels were allowed to employ sailors while in port to load or unload a cargo, and they held that the law did not contemplate the prohibition of foreign contract labor of this nature. Attorneys representing the Longshoremen's Union held that the employment of sailors was a direct violation of the alien contract labor law. The longshoremen feel that if foreign contract labor is allowed to load and unload vessels at this port, it will be a severe blow to their livelihood.
“The longshoremen feel that if foreign contract labor is allowed to load and unload vessels at this port it will be a severe blow to them.”
Labor disputes over who is entitled to perform local work are a staple of Seattle and Tacoma's history. The 1893 conflict between unionized longshoremen and shipping interests regarding foreign labor echoes modern anxieties about globalized logistics and local employment.
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