The Politics of Exclusion in the Mills
Organized labor in Everett targets immigrant workers, claiming their presence harms the local economy.
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.
Everybody seems very busy diagnosing Everett's ailment but nobody seems to be paying much attention to a condition of things that is right under our noses. The crowding out of white labor in our local industries is one of the alarming things that all classes of citizens should pay instant attention to. If you want to know why so many dwelling houses are being vacated, take a round of some of the mills and factories; stroll over to Riverside and use your eyes. It was reported in one of the unions this week that one particular sawmill is turning away day after day white applicants for work while giving work to Greeks in ever-increasing numbers. Everett's Greek, Italian and Japanese residents are sending abroad each year $150,000, which never finds its way back to local circulation. How long can Everett stand this and what shall be said of the men who employ this class of labor?
“The crowding out of white labor in our local industries is one of the alarming things that all classes of citizens should pay instant attention to.”
This piece displays the era's pervasive xenophobia, where labor unions often framed their protectionist goals through the lens of racial and ethnic exclusion, scapegoating immigrant workers for broader industrial economic shifts.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.