Shoemakers Form Protective Union to Restore Prices
After organizing at labor headquarters, local cobblers and shoe shop owners unite to purge cut-price advertising and set standards for the trade.
The custom boot and shoemakers of this city perfected an organization Friday evening at labor headquarters, thirty-seven members of the craft being present. It was the second or third meeting for this purpose, but meanwhile effective work had been done, and nearly all the shoemakers in the city have signed an agreement to restore prices. The organization includes both employers and employes, but no member will be admitted unless he is a practical shoemaker. It is the intention to have all cut-price signs removed by January 7. The first officers of the organization, which is called the Shoemakers' Protective Union of Seattle, are as follows: President, W. T. Helierstad; vice president, P. H. Graham; secretary, Thomas McDowell; treasurer, S. Plough; serjeant-at-arms, B. Jaques; trustees, H. L. Kline, Emil Pessemeier and S. Moser.
“It is the intention to have all cut-price signs removed by January 7.”
In the 1890s, the struggle for a 'living wage' often meant setting price floors for craft services—a move against the aggressive discounting that threatened independent livelihoods. Today’s gig economy laborers face a similar, though digitized, fight against the algorithmic suppression of wages.
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