Labor Unions and Lawmakers Craft Policy
Local labor leaders and the King County delegation meet to push for a progressive agenda, including a bureau of labor statistics and public printing.
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 King county delegation to the legislature held a final meeting at the courthouse yesterday and decided on the measures to be advocated. The delegation was visited by a committee from the labor unions of King county, composed of G. Armstrong, Robert Bridges and F. J. Clare, which submitted a number of bills. These provided for the prohibition of the employment of private armed forces, free text books, state ownership of state printing office, abolition of the poll tax, improvement of the registration law, amendment of the ballot law and a bureau of labor statistics. These bills were examined and thoroughly discussed, and it was decided to use every effort to secure the passage of all of them, with the exception of the one abolishing the poll tax. The legislative committee of the labor unions will meet on Tuesday at 3 o'clock to receive reports on other bills under consideration.
“These provided for the prohibition of the employment of private armed forces, free text books, state ownership of state printing office, and a bureau of labor statistics.”
This meeting captures the height of populist-labor collaboration in early Washington, illustrating a time when organized labor was directly shaping state legislation to curb corporate overreach and private security forces.
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