Roslyn's Coal Strike Ends—but the Company Wants to Blacklist Its Leaders
Miners have accepted the company's wage scale, yet the coal operator refuses to rehire the dozen men it blames for leading the strike.
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The dispute at Roslyn has been narrowed down to the question of whether or not the coal company will refuse to take back into its employ the dozen or so men who are regarded as having been the leaders in the strike which it is now about to end. On all other points the trouble is practically settled, and settled by the complete triumph of the company.
A large number of the men have already signed the scale of wages offered by the company, and we understand that all are willing to go back provided all are allowed to do so. This, of course, would be the end of the strike and the mines would resume operations at once. The company, however, desires to discriminate against the men who have been most active in opposing it, and this deters many from signing the scale who would otherwise be willing to return to work on the company's terms.
We think that the attitude of the company is wrong. It has won its fight and is now able to operate its mines with its old men and at its own terms. The men have yielded completely, so far as essentials are concerned, and the company should not endanger the peace of the commonwealth and invite further trouble by standing on its dignity in such a matter.
If the men whom it has blacklisted had been guilty of lawlessness, it would be different, but we understand that this is not the case. The strike, while a prolonged and determined one, has been a peaceable one and no damage has been inflicted upon the company's property.
Under all the circumstances it would be the part of wisdom, justice and good citizenship for the company to receive back all of its old employees who are willing to return. We sincerely hope that it will do this and that it will abandon the intention of bringing outside miners into the state when the condition of the labor market is such as to render the importation of outside workingmen altogether harmful.
“The company should not endanger the peace of the commonwealth and invite further trouble by standing on its dignity in such a matter.”
The Roslyn coal strike was one of Washington's defining labor battles, pitting miners against a company that had already won on wages but still wanted to punish the strike's leaders. The fight over whether strike leaders could return to work—and whether outside miners would be imported—still echoes in modern disputes over blacklisting, return-to-work agreements and union leadership.
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