The Seattle Boiler Strike of 1888

There are four boiler shops in Seattle: Vulcan Iron Works, owned by Frank Sullivan; the shop of A.J. Penny; the Seattle Boiler Works, owned by Otis Kelly; and the shop connected with the Washington Iron Works. In all three shops, the men made demands upon their employers that their wages be advanced from thirty-five to forty cents per hour. The latter price, the men assert, is what is now paid in all important cities of the coast except Seattle, and it is the same price that was paid here four years ago. The Boiler Makers' Union has no branch here, but the men acted as a unit, and when the proprietors refused their demands, they quit work. The strike was begun last Friday, and the men anticipate a victory before next Friday. Greenleaf, one of the boiler makers, stated yesterday that the men had received a telegram from San Francisco to the effect that proprietors of the shops there are offering $4 per day and board, so he does not think the demands of the Seattle men are at all out of the bounds of reason. He stated that the proprietors of the Seattle shops are doing very poorly in putting in 'scab' workmen who cannot help, under the circumstances, turning out poor and in some cases dangerous work.