The Labor Fight Against Tuberculosis
Everett’s organized labor movement joins a national campaign to combat the 'White Plague,' an occupational disease hitting mill and factory workers the hardest.
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.
No movement at the present time is more deeply stirring the ranks of organized labor throughout the United States than the campaign against tuberculosis. Politics, strikes, and boycotts are being side-tracked to save the lives of thousands of laboring men. Tuberculosis is particularly fatal to the workingman, with at least one-third of deaths during the working period of life caused by pulmonary consumption. Dr. Lawrence F. Flick notes that tuberculosis is 'peculiarly a disease of the wage workers,' caused by overwork and dusty trades. In some industries, such as metal polishing and stone working, 50 to 80 percent of all deaths are linked to the disease. Following the lead of New York unions, Everett workers are joining this national effort, as unions from Hartford to San Francisco organize to care for their afflicted members through factory-based subscription funds and support for sanatoria.
“Tuberculosis is peculiarly a disease of the wage workers, and this is so for the very good reason that one of the causes of the disease is overwork.”
In 1909, Everett workers recognized that their health was tied directly to their workplace conditions, long before occupational safety regulations were fully standardized. Today, this 'White Plague' campaign mirrors modern-day debates over public health, industrial pollution, and the responsibility of employers for the long-term well-being of their workforce.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.