Labor Standoff at Renton Mines
The Seattle Electric Company reopens its Renton coal mines with non-union workers after contract negotiations regarding a 10% wage cut collapse.
The story, cleaned up
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After being idle since June, the Renton mines, owned and operated by the Seattle Electric company, returned to operations this morning with a force of non-union miners. This action is the result of a failure of the negotiations which were on yesterday to settle the differences between the company and the men. The mine closed down last June when the company announced that it intended to change the scale on which the mine would be operated. This new scale contemplated a cut of about 10 per cent in the wages paid the miners for a day's work. When it was announced to the men they walked out in a body, refusing to accept the new scale. The company contended that it would not pay to run the mine on the old scale and it was closed down. The union miners claim that the company will not be able to find enough non-union men to operate the mines fully.
“The union miners claim that the company will not be able to find enough non-union men to operate the mines fully.”
This struggle highlights the historic tension between corporate wage restructuring and organized labor in Washington’s coal industry. Renton’s transformation from a coal-mining hub to a modern suburban center echoes the changing economic landscape of the Pacific Northwest.
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