Trapped in the Gears: A Dockworker’s Fight for Justice
A severe workplace accident at the docks leads to a massive lawsuit that highlights the dangers faced by laborers in the rapidly expanding Seattle waterfront economy.
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.
James McCasville filed a lawsuit yesterday in the district court against the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, claiming damages to the amount of $25,000. McCasville claims that while employed as a ship carpenter on the steamer Alaskan, he was ordered by Fred Erickson, the chief engineer, to make some repairs to the paddle wheels. He entered the wheel room, and while at his work, someone started the engine in motion. McCasville was crushed by the wheel, sustaining almost fatal injuries, including the breaking of three of his ribs and the dislocation of his right shoulder. The incident occurred on the 16th of March last, at Victoria. McCasville lay in the hospital for ten weeks and claims that he is permanently disabled and will never be able to work again.
“McCasville claims that he is permanently disabled and will never be able to work again.”
Workplace safety remains a persistent challenge for Seattle’s blue-collar workforce, and the struggle of injured laborers to secure just compensation mirrors modern concerns about worker protections in gig and industrial sectors. Today, the O.R. & N. Co.’s legacy of heavy industrial infrastructure continues to shape the physical and economic geography of the waterfront.
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