Labor's Mountain Climb
Everett delegates weigh in on the internal politics of the state labor movement and the performance of government officials.
The baseless attack on President Case and Secretary Taylor occurring during the closing hours of the convention fell flat. If ever two men have remained loyal and true to the cause of labor, they are the ones. They have been subject to both frontal and rear attack—from the avowed enemies of organized labor and from those who claim to be good union men. It reminds me of a cartoon of a man labeled 'Labor' attempting to climb a mountainside. At its summit was a glittering crown representing the 'brotherhood of man.' While 'Capital' was pictured putting boulders in his path, hanging to his coattails, trying to pull him down, was one of his own fellow workers. Mr. Charles P. Hubbard, who, by the grace of the governor, warms a chair in the office of state labor commissioner while we foot the bills, should be no longer in doubt as to the feelings of organized labor toward his maladministration in office.
“While 'Capital' was pictured putting boulders in his path, hanging to his coattails, trying with might and main to pull him down, was one of his own fellow workers.”
This 1912 critique of state bureaucracy and internal labor disputes echoes modern tensions between political appointees and organized labor. The metaphor of the 'mountain climb' remains a persistent image in Washington's labor organizing, where unity and internal gatekeeping continue to define the movement's success.
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