The Knights of Labor’s Bold Bet: Criminalizing the 'Blacklist'
Seattle’s labor leaders draft a radical bill to make it a felony for employers to force workers out of unions.
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 joint local executive board of the Knights of Labor of Seattle has prepared the following bill for the protection of employes, and will forward it to Olympia at once to be introduced:
SECTION 1. That after the passage of this act it shall be unlawful for any employer, individual or corporation to make as a condition of employment or of continuance in employment from any employe that he will not join or that he will withdraw from any lawful organization, social, benevolent, religious, political or labor organization or organizations for the protection of employes.
Sec. 2. All contracts in contravention of the provisions of this act are hereby declared void.
Sec. 3. Any person, officer or agent soliciting, demanding or exacting such agreement shall be deemed guilty of felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary for a term of years not less than one year nor more than ten years.
Sec. 4. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.
Sec. 5. Whereas, there is no law now in force relating to the subject matter of this act, an emergency exists for its passage, and it shall be in force from and after its passage and approval by the governor.
Mr. R. Bridges, chairman of the executive board, said in regard to the bill: "This measure is intended to cover cases which have frequently occurred in older states, and have also come up in Washington. Employers are inclined to stipulate that their men shall not belong to the Knights or to some other protective association. This will prevent even the proposal of such a stipulation. We have not yet decided whom we shall ask to introduce it."
In an era when 'yellow dog' contracts—forcing workers to promise they wouldn't join a union—were standard practice, Seattle’s Knights of Labor proposed making the mere act of demanding such a contract a felony punishable by up to ten years in prison. While this specific legislation didn't pass, it highlights the intense early struggle for labor rights that laid the groundwork for modern protections against anti-union coercion.
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