The Rent Crisis at the Renton Coal Mines
Striking miners face eviction as company-owned housing turns into a weapon against organized labor.
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.
Rent, June 5. The company sent out eviction notices today to the miners from the company-owned houses. The operatives have been out of work a month and are unable to pay rent. The corporation gives no quarter to the families. Many persons are carrying their goods out on their backs, having no money to pay teamsters.
“The operatives have been out of work a month and are unable to pay rent. The corporation gives no quarter to the families.”
The 1885 Renton coal strike mirrors the modern struggle for housing affordability in Seattle, where the loss of a job or a labor dispute can immediately trigger homelessness. The image of displaced families carrying their worldly possessions on their backs echoes the vulnerability of contemporary renters facing no-cause evictions in a rapidly gentrifying region.
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