Longshoremen and Strike-Breakers Clash at Tacoma Flour Mill
Striking workers storm the Sperry flour mill and board a steamer, leaving guards and employees beaten in a violent labor dispute.
Tacoma.—Three union longshoremen were shot Monday in a clash between them and strike-breakers at the Sperry flour mill. The strikers rushed the guards at the mill and swarmed over the steamer Santa Cruz, which was loading at the dock, and then fought their way through the mill. Strikebreakers were badly beaten, as well as several employees of the mill.
“The strikers rushed the guards at the mill and swarmed over the steamer Santa Cruz.”
Labor disputes over wages and union recognition were common on the Tacoma waterfront during the 1916 mobilization era. The tension between dock workers and industrial interests remains a recurring theme in the Pacific Northwest's economic history.
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