Tacoma’s Engineers Crossed the Picket Line
As the Pullman boycott convulsed the nation, nearly all Northern Pacific engineers in Tacoma returned to work under guard—prompting American Railway Union men to vow a fight to the finish.
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.
Tacoma, July 16.—[Special.]—Being assured of guards and all possible protection, nearly all the Northern Pacific engineers returned to work in a body today, and the American Railway Union men say they will now fight the railroad company and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers; if they succeed, the American Railway Union firemen will not work with them. Last night the American Railway Union men believed they had the stampede sidetracked, but it is still on the main track, although the American Railway Union men, or most of them, are not in the band wagon. None who have been leaders in the strike will be taken back, and of course none who have committed violence will receive any consideration at the hands of the company's officials.
“Being assured of guards and all possible protection, nearly all the Northern Pacific engineers returned to work in a body today.”
The Pullman boycott was one of the defining labor conflicts of the 1890s, and Tacoma was one of its pressure points: engineers protected by guards chose the company over the union, while ARU men called them 'scabs.' The episode echoes modern fights over replacement workers, union solidarity, and who bears the risk when a strike shuts down freight.
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