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The Iron Workers’ Truce

After months of tense negotiations and the threat of a prolonged shutdown, iron manufacturers and workmen in Seattle reach a compromise to avert a general strike.

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.

At a conference of iron manufacturers and workmen held yesterday, the mill men agreed to compromise with the manufacturers on a five percent wage reduction. If this is accepted, the scale will be signed. The difference between the two sides has narrowed down to the sheet mill wages; the workmen say that this is the last concession they will make. A compromise settlement was decided upon after long deliberation for the purpose of averting a long strike. It is believed the manufacturers will accept the offer. The strike in this district is now at an end. An agreement has been signed, and a general resumption of work will follow immediately.

“A compromise settlement was decided upon after long deliberation for the purpose of averting a long strike.”

— Printed in Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885
Then · 1885141 years apartNow · 2026

Labor disputes over wage adjustments in the face of shifting market conditions remain a constant feature of Seattle's industrial history, mirroring the modern-day struggles of unionized workers navigating inflation and corporate profit margins.

The original page

Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-06-17. Library of Congress, Chronicling America.

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About this story

From
Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, JUN 17, 1885, Page 3
Rights
Public domain
Place
47.60323, -122.33028 · placed automatically
The paper in the Library of Congress catalog ↗