The Great Northern Strikers Hold the Line
Despite pressure from commercial bodies and federal military intervention, railway workers in Seattle and across the Pacific Northwest refuse to abandon their demand for fair wages.
Business was scheduled to resume on the Great Northern, but the strike situation remained tense. A proposal from commercial bodies to submit the dispute to an arbitration board of five disinterested persons was soundly rejected at a mass meeting of strikers. President Hill of the Great Northern stated he would only agree to arbitration if the men returned to work immediately, a condition the strikers refused. Meanwhile, United States troops under Major Patterson were dispatched to Devil's Lake to assist marshals in making arrests. A meeting of employees from the Cascade division, including representatives from Snohomish, Spokane, and Tacoma, resolved to stand firm, calling on their brothers on the Northern Pacific to join them.
“The men demanded justice and that arbitration was therefore out of the question.”
This 1894 standoff highlights the long history of rail and labor battles in the Pacific Northwest. Today, as Seattle faces modern debates over transit expansion and union representation, these early efforts to organize across multiple municipalities (like Snohomish and Tacoma) echo current regional labor movements.
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