The Shingle Weavers' Stand
Ballard shingle mill workers refuse a wage reduction, leading to a clash as manufacturers attempt to bring in non-union replacement labor.
The story, cleaned up
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The trouble between the shingle weavers and manufacturers at Ballard has not been as quiet as was anticipated. The effort of the manufacturers to reduce wages led to a strike when the Stimson Lumber Company and the Seattle Cedar Lumber Company attempted to continue operations with non-union men. The shingle weavers claim the non-union replacements are incompetent. While other mills are still paying the old scale, only one-third of the shingle mills on the Sound are currently running. Meanwhile, the Western Central Labor Union is pushing for an ordinance to create a labor commissioner and a free employment bureau, though city council's current focus on retrenchment makes passage unlikely.
“The shingle weavers claim that the non-union men are incompetent and that these mills will be glad to return to union men and pay the old scale.”
The tension between organized labor and industry in Ballard during the 1890s was the foundation for much of the city's later political identity. Today's debates over labor rights and municipal employment services share a direct lineage with these early 20th-century struggles.
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