Spokane Telephone Operators Walk Out in Solidarity
Striking operators and linemen demand to return as a unified body, defying company attempts to replace them.
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 telephone girls who went on a strike in sympathy with the linemen will not go back to work unless they are received as a body. There are about 75 of the original girls in town. No definite action has been taken as terms of settlement were not known. The linemen have refused to go to work until they have learned the details of the strike settlement. They declare that they will not return to work unless the operators who struck with them are taken care of. The linemen received a notice from San Francisco advising them that the strike was ended and telling them to report for work. Sunday evening the linemen held a meeting and decided that they would not return to work until they knew what action had been taken in regard to the operators. Division Manager Bush of the telephone company said: 'I do not know what the details of the settlement are. The striking operators will only be taken back as vacancies occur. In no case will any of the girls who helped the company through the strike be discharged.'
“The striking operators will only be taken back as vacancies occur. In no case will any of the girls who helped the company through the strike be discharged.”
This 1903 standoff over labor solidarity, strike replacements, and union bargaining power echoes modern battles for worker protections and collective bargaining rights in the tech and service sectors.
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