City Contractors Collude Against the Eight-Hour Day
Labor unions in Seattle allege that local contractors are manipulating the courts to strip workers of their legal protections.
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 recent decision of Judge Bell of Seattle, declaring the eight-hour law unconstitutional, has created the greatest indignation among labor organizations. The Western Central Labor Union of Seattle has investigated the matter and charges that city contractors formed a combination to secure this ruling. While they publicly claimed that the non-enforcement of the law would save taxpayers money and benefit employees, the Union notes that contractors had already calculated their bids on an eight-hour day, yet forced employees to work ten hours for the same pay. The move to revert to ten-hour days appears to be a calculated effort to maintain profit margins at the expense of the workers' time.
“The contractors themselves made their figure on the basis of an eight-hour work day and forced their employes to work 10 hours for $2.00 a day.”
The tension between municipal labor laws and 'contractor combinations' remains a core issue in contemporary infrastructure politics. This 1904 report highlights how often economic policy is fought through the technicalities of judicial rulings rather than direct negotiation.
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