The Fight for the Eight-Hour Day and Industrial Justice
As Washington’s legislature debates a landmark compensation act, labor leader Peter Henretty delivers an impassioned plea for the 'soldiers of labor' working in the state’s most dangerous mines.
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During the tenth annual convention of the Washington State Federation of Labor in Olympia, Peter Henretty addressed the joint committee of the House and Senate regarding the Workmen's Compensation Act. Henretty, a representative of the coal miners, highlighted the brutal toll of industrial work, noting that in the last year alone, thirty-two miners were killed and 149 seriously injured in Washington. He argued that the state has a moral obligation to protect the widows and children of those killed on the job. Furthermore, he criticized the current legal system, stating that for a working man, attempting to sue for damages in court is essentially 'suicide.' Meanwhile, in the House, the Initiative and Referendum bill passed by a vote of 79 to 12, signaling a major shift toward popular government. The Women's Eight-Hour Bill also saw progress despite fierce opposition from special interest groups, particularly the canning industry lobby.
“We claim labor produces all of the wealth of the great state of Washington, and we claim that in the days of darkness which are brought upon our families through deaths in industry, it is the duty of the state of Washington to take care of our families.”
This 1911 struggle for workers' compensation and the eight-hour day laid the foundation for the social safety net we rely on today. The tension Henretty described—balancing industrial productivity against the human cost of dangerous work—remains a central theme in modern labor debates across the Pacific Northwest.
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