Spokane Suffragists Bring the Fight to Everett’s Union Hall
Two organizers from Spokane bridge the gap between industrial labor struggles and the demand for women's suffrage.
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Equal Suffrage stock has risen in Everett during the visit of Mrs. Philip Stalford and Mrs. Rose Moore of Spokane. Once viewed as a nightmare, the movement for the vote is gaining traction as women realize their struggles for fair pay and working conditions are tethered to the ballot. Mrs. Stalford, speaking at the Labor Temple, noted that just as workers band together in unions for self-protection, women now need the vote to protect themselves from industrial exploitation. She highlighted how women in Spokane were only able to secure jail matrons after labor unions threw their weight behind the cause, proving that the struggle for political freedom and the struggle for union rights are one and the same.
“The wage-earners cannot influence directly the conditions under which they work, and which perhaps, will kill, maim and undermine their health.”
This 1910 report highlights the crucial intersectional history of the Pacific Northwest labor movement. It serves as a reminder that Everett’s labor unions were early, if sometimes reluctant, allies in the push for women's political enfranchisement, recognizing that gender inequality in the workplace weakened the bargaining power of all workers.
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