The Price of a Salmon Strike
Seattle fishermen return to work after a botched strike leaves the local cannery empty and the profits flowing to British Columbia and San Francisco.
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 latest news regarding the situation of the fishermen’s union came out yesterday and throws a different light on the situation. The union demanded 7 cents apiece for silver salmon from Myers' cannery and were offered 5 cents. They declined to do any fishing for nearly a week and then announced that they had contracted to sell the season's catch to the Drysdale cannery at the price demanded from Mr. Myers. One of the fishermen who was present at the union meeting Tuesday evening confessed yesterday that the men were getting but 5 cents apiece for silver salmon from Mr. Drysdale. He said that the union agreed to take 5 cents for their fish from the Point Roberts cannery, but determined not to sell any fish to Mr. Myers unless he paid the full union scale. By their delay the fishermen have lost at least $2,000, which cannot be made up, and by their present arrangement whatever money is expended in putting up the fish goes to Point Roberts and San Francisco instead of to Seattle. Their fish would have been bought here at the same price they get from Mr. Drysdale. Myers' cannery began running again yesterday, the salmon being obtained in the harbor by crews manning three seines belonging to the cannery.
“By their delay the fishermen have lost at least $2,000, which cannot be made up.”
Labor disputes in the Pacific Northwest salmon industry have historically pitted local workers against cannery owners, often resulting in complex regional economic shifts. This 1893 strike reflects the perennial tension between securing fair wages and the fear of losing regional capital to out-of-state competitors, a theme that resonates through modern Seattle labor movements.
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