The Shingle Trust Squeezes Workers
Facing falling profits, the Washington and Oregon Shingle Manufacturers Association mandates wage cuts and production limits.
The shingle manufacturers have decided to advance prices for the product, cut down wages, and reduce the stores on hand by diminishing the output. About sixty men were present at the meeting yesterday in the hall of the Washington and Oregon Shingle Manufacturers' Association, representing 110 mills. It was unanimously decided to establish a uniform rate of prices somewhat higher than the present prevailing market price and to limit production. It was moved and carried that during the month of July, mills would run five hours per day or thirteen days for the month. The report of the committee in regard to a scale of wages was then taken up and agreed upon to take effect July 1. Men at shingle machines are not to exceed certain pay rates, and all other mill labor is subject to reductions. It was further resolved that every member of the association is pledged to the same, with the object being to maintain the association's prices as maintained from time to time.
“The shingle manufacturers have decided to advance prices for the product, cut down wages, and reduce the stores on hand by diminishing the output.”
This 1893 labor struggle reflects the cyclical volatility of Seattle's timber economy. Much like modern corporate consolidation, the 'Shingle Trust' used its collective power to stabilize market prices at the direct expense of workers' livelihoods.
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