Plumbers Strike Back Against the Herald
Local union leaders defend their rules on new construction work after being maligned by the daily press.
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.
Dear Sir—You no doubt saw the article that appeared in a recent issue of the Everett Daily Herald in regard to the Journeymen Plumbers not allowing their employers to work with the tools and stating that such an action on the part of the journeymen would advance the cost of plumbing work. It seems that the Herald is ready and willing at all times to publish anything that will prejudice the public against organized labor regardless of whether it is true or not. The employers are not deprived of the right to work on old work. All the journeymen claim is the new work, and the employers still have the right to work on old work to their hearts' content. The union offered them a certain amount of protection in so far as it will not allow its members to work for a man who has not an established place of business, neither will it allow its members to do contracting and thus compete with their employers. At present the employer pays a day to a journeyman and charges $8 for him; he also charges for his own labor, and figures a good fat profit for the material he installs. Now he sees a chance to squeeze a little more profit out of the business, and as usual it is laid at the door of the journeyman.
“It seems that the Herald is ready and willing at all times to publish anything that will prejudice the public against organized labor regardless of whether it is true or not.”
The tension between trade unions and local daily newspapers remains a cornerstone of the labor-management struggle in Everett. Even 115 years later, the debate over who controls the tools of the trade and the role of 'fat profits' in contract pricing is still central to the local construction economy.
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