The Bellboy Who Held the Elevator Hostage
A Seattle hotel worker wins a pay raise by staging a one-man sit-down strike between floors.
George Washington Johnson, an ebony hued bellboy at the Hotel Cecil in Seattle, struck for higher wages yesterday and won out. George approached the manager with the modest demand for an increase of four bits a week. 'Ah'm suah Ah need a raise,' he said. 'If Ah doan get it, Ah will suah go on a strike.' The manager scoffed, claiming the boy was replaceable. Just then, the hotel bus arrived with guests. Johnson saw his opportunity; he moved the elevator cage between the first and second floors and refused to budge. Despite the manager's entreaties and the guests' clamoring, Johnson remained unmoved until his terms were met: a raise of four bits and a promise of no retaliation. He is now recognized as a sort of king among the bellboys.
“Ah won't come down unless yo' all promise to raise me fo' bits and doan fine me.”
This 1904 account of a spontaneous, effective labor action uses the language of its time, but captures a timeless power dynamic: the worker who recognizes that they hold the literal machinery of the business in their hands. It serves as a fascinating precursor to the 'solidarity' labor movements that would later reshape the Pacific Northwest.
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