The High School Labor Stand-off
A construction site on the city's new high school building grounds to a halt after union workers walk out over a non-union lighting subcontractor.
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.
A serious tie-up occurred at the high school building the latter part of last week. The board of education had agreed to employ union men only, as far as they could be obtained. This promise had been kept, but the tie-up was not because of any grievance against the head contractors. The trouble arose over the employment of non-union wiremen by the Seattle Electric company, which had the lighting contract. The Seattle concern employs nothing but non-union men and sent four of their wiremen onto the work. They were interviewed by the local union representatives and positively refused to join the union or to abide by union regulations. Upon this refusal, every craft at work upon the building laid down their tools and walked off the job. The matter was immediately taken up by the Building Trades council and the wiremen's union. The foreman of the non-union wiremen eventually consented to hold a parley. The men were ordered back to work pending a final settlement, and after some argument, the wiring concern agreed to make application for membership in the union and let his non-union help go. This arrangement was satisfactory and the work is proceeding as before with strictly union men in all departments.
“Upon this refusal every craft at work upon the building laid down their tools and walked off the job.”
This strike reflects the deep-seated power of organized labor in Everett's early 20th-century development, where union 'closed shop' agreements were standard civic expectations. Today, labor disputes in Everett often center on wage stagnation and the gig economy rather than direct site walkouts, but the tension between contracted labor and local community standards remains a constant feature of our town's economic fabric.
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