The 1888 Crusade Against '13-Hour Days' in Seattle
When local shopkeepers refused to close their doors at 8 p.m., the Clerks' Union launched a public campaign to boycott the stores that kept their workers trapped in a cycle of exhausting, long-hour shifts.
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.
Shortly after 8 o'clock last evening, a crowd of well-dressed young men, clerks and others, marched down Front Street and halted in front of Mr. Davies' book store, where they commenced handing out printed dodgers to the public. They then marched to a clothing house on the same street and further south to a store, handing out their circulars. A number of merchants, who had agreed to close at 8 p.m., were present and upheld the movement to have thirteen-hour work days shortened. The handbills read: 'Don't trade with merchants who keep their stores open after 8 o'clock p.m. We are working to better our condition and ask that you will not trade with those who insist on keeping us at our tasks until 10 or 11 o'clock at night. All merchants signed an agreement to close at 8 p.m. and all have kept their word, except the cigar store and a drug store, both on Front Street. Trade with merchants who have principle. If the stores keep open after 8 p.m., do not trade with them at any time.' Mr. Davies, in response, stated: 'I told them that I would reserve the right to open and close my store when I saw fit. The goods I sell are a luxury, and not a necessity, and the time our business is best is after other stores are closed. I have endeavored to make my store light and cheerful so that clerks after their hard day's work would find it a pleasant place to spend an hour or two before going home. I intend to continue furnishing them such a place and I'll fight it out on that line if it takes all summer.'
“I hold that every merchant has a right to run his business to suit himself and his customers, and I'll fight it out on that line if it takes all summer.”
The 1888 push for an 8 p.m. closing time highlights the long history of Seattle labor struggles over work-life balance. Today, as gig-economy workers and retail staff face 'on-demand' scheduling and extended operating hours, this 136-year-old conflict over the right to a predictable end to the workday remains remarkably relevant.
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