A Dollar a Day: Bricklayers Force Olympia Contractors to Pay Up
A week-long walkout over wages ends with contractors conceding $4 a day—but the capitol job is already behind schedule.
Olympia, March 16.—Special.—Work on the foundation of the capitol building will be resumed Monday by the bricklayers who struck one week ago for a raise from $3.50 to $4 per day, the contractors having conceded the latter figure. It is understood that the strike was not without reason, since the pay was below the going rate in cities, and notwithstanding this fact the men were not able to work full time, in many cases being limited to two and three days each. Although the men are not willing to talk about the matter, it is believed that the union stone cutters on the work would have taken a hand had there not been a satisfactory adjustment of the affair. The contractors are already behind in their work, and present appearances are that they will not be able to finish the contract on schedule time.
“The contractors are already behind in their work, and present appearances are that they will not be able to finish the contract on schedule time.”
A century before 'prevailing wage' debates, Olympia bricklayers struck over a dollar a day and the schedule for a public building. The same questions—what public work should pay and whether the state can afford to wait—still shape construction disputes today.
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