The Shingle War at South Bellingham
A local manufacturer enforces a 'yellow-dog' style ultimatum, forcing union weavers to tear up their cards or lose their livelihoods.
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.
Mr. Earles, of the firm of Earles & Meary, shingle manufacturers of South Bellingham, was a guest at the famous Otis dinner in Seattle some weeks ago. This man Kirby swung through the Northwest for the express purpose of instilling ginger into the manufacturers of the state in their fight against the eight-hour day demands of the metal trades workers. Mr. Earles sat at the feet of the champion of 'free and independent workmen' and absorbed great chunks of wisdom. He put what he had learned into practice almost immediately upon his return home, locking out his union shingle weavers and telling them if they returned to work they must tear up their union cards before his eyes. Needless to remark that the weavers refused to do any such thing.
“Locking out his union shingle weavers and telling them if they returned to work they must tear up their union cards before his eyes.”
This incident highlights the brutal nature of industrial labor disputes in early 20th-century Washington, where union-busting was often explicitly demanded as a condition of employment. The clash between mill ownership and labor solidarity was a foundational conflict in the region's development.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.