The Labor Inspector Who Got 'Too Close' to the Truth
Blanche Mason is fired from her state post after effectively enforcing labor laws against powerful companies, sparking a fierce reaction from the unions.
The story, cleaned up
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Evidence, carefully collected, was treated with derision and scorn by both officials. Immediately after her visit to Bellingham, where she was instrumental in causing a cessation of the violation of the law by the big camps, Mrs. Mason was incontinently fired by Hubbard because she 'knew too much' in regard to the administration's stand on labor matters. Had Mrs. Mason been given carte blanche in her department, there would not today be a violator of the eight-hour law in the state. The minute she was fired, every concern she had prosecuted resumed their unfair tactics. Labor has demanded that Mrs. Mason be reinstated and the governor has seen fit to turn labor's request down. It is dangerous to play peanut politics with the labor unions of the state.
“It is dangerous to play peanut politics with the labor unions of the state.”
Regulatory capture remains a constant tension in Washington labor relations. Mason’s firing for effectively enforcing the eight-hour day reflects the enduring struggle between administrative oversight and corporate interests in the timber and labor industries.
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