Labor Unrest at the Gilman Mines
Miners in Gilman protest a wage reduction, leading to a tense stand-off as the company moves to replace the local workforce.
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 miners at Gilman who refused to accept the reduction of wages are only waiting to be paid the money due them before leaving the place, and the company promises to pay them today. J. Morten, one of the miners, who has been chairman of the meetings held thus far, said to the Post-Intelligencer correspondent: 'No effort will be made to keep new men from working, and no trouble will be made if the company pays the men off tomorrow, as it has agreed. If it does not, an effort will be made to close the mines by persuasion. The men see that they are entitled to their pay right away.' J. L. Parker, the superintendent, said: 'The men will be paid in cash right here as soon as we can settle accounts. We will not need near as many men as we had, as the coal market is dull and orders scarce. The Gilman men will be given a reasonable time in which to return to work, but if they do not avail themselves of the opportunity and go in shortly they will not be taken back. Some new men have already arrived from Seattle and have been put to work.'
“The men see that they are entitled to their pay right away.”
Gilman, once a prominent coal mining town, was renamed Issaquah in 1899. This account reflects a common narrative in the Pacific Northwest's industrial history: labor disputes centered on wage cuts and the importation of 'replacement' workers to break the resolve of established local communities.
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