Shingle Weavers Prepare to Fight Wage Cuts
Delegates from across the region gather in Tacoma to organize against a threatened 10 percent pay reduction in the shingle mills.
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.
The convention of the International Shingle Weavers' association met at the Labor Union hall, 721 Commerce street, this morning. The convention, which is an annual affair, will last three days. The first work of the convention this morning was the election of officers. William Hubbell of Ballard was elected president, T. M. Burns of Marmette, Wis., vice president, and W. A. Clock of Everett secretary and treasurer. It has been agreed tacitly by the shingle mill owners of the state that a 10 percent reduction shall be made in wages in the mills after they open again after January. The mills, at least the majority of them, have been paying 7.5 cents a thousand to shingle weavers and 10 cents a thousand to knot sawyers. Recently the mill men discovered that there were a number of mills not paying this scale. Although no action was taken at a meeting of the Shingle Dealers' association, there was a tacit understanding that when the mills reopened in February, there would be a general 10 percent cut in wages. President Hubbell of the Shingle Weavers' association said: 'If the cut is made, which we believe it will be, it is natural that we should fight it. The wages are low enough now and we will not agree to any cut.' There are 38 delegates present from Washington, outside states and British Columbia.
“The wages are low enough now and we will not agree to any cut.”
Tacoma's identity as a blue-collar industrial hub was forged in halls like the one on Commerce Street. Today’s labor disputes in the Pacific Northwest continue to revolve around the same core tension: the struggle of workers to maintain their purchasing power against the whims of industry giants.
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