The Strike of the Tacoma Printers
A morning paper imports out-of-state non-union labor to break a local typesetters' walkout.
Non-union printers arrived in Tacoma today from Los Angeles to work the Ledger’s typesetter machines. The Tacoma Typographical Union met this afternoon and resolved to send a committee to confer with the new arrivals to prevent labor interference. Local printers had recently declined to accept a reduction in wages, prompting the newspaper's management to import strike-breakers. As a result of this move, the Ledger becomes the only 'rat' (anti-union) daily paper in the state of Washington.
“The Ledger will be the only rat daily paper in the state of Washington.”
This report captures the raw conflict of late 19th-century labor organizing in the Pacific Northwest. The tension between local wages and corporate-driven 'scab' labor is a fundamental rhyme with modern struggles against gig-economy exploitation and outsourcing.
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