The Collapse of the Sailors' Union
After a fierce labor battle along the Pacific Coast, the Sailors' Union of the Pacific concedes its inability to maintain wage standards against the shipowners.
The battle between the Sailors' Union of the Pacific and the Shipowners' Association, which has been waged fiercely along the coast, is practically ended. The Sailors' Union has practically thrown up the sponge. At a meeting in San Francisco, the union passed a resolution granting captains the right to pick their own sailors from any part of the union, and allowing union members to look for their own jobs on any vessel. This motion shows the union recognizes the impossibility of maintaining any standard of wages or of compelling shipowners to patronize its office. The stand taken by the Black Diamond Coal Company, which joined forces with the Shipowners' Association, was a turning point. Captain Griffin of the ship Ivanhoe, plying between Seattle and San Francisco, broke with union regulations, forcing his crew to accept lower wages or be replaced by non-union men. As a result, captains no longer fear the union, and in Seattle, as in San Francisco, the crews are now looking for captains.
“There is no longer any fear of the sailors' union among captains and shipowners, and as a result, instead of captains looking for crews, crews are looking for captains.”
This 1893 report captures a brutal moment in the consolidation of shipping capital in Seattle, showing how quickly industry-wide labor protections could be dismantled by aggressive employers. The struggle reflects the recurring tension between organized maritime labor and the powerful, globalized shipping interests that still define the Seattle waterfront today.
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