The Price of Coal and the Cost of Living in Newcastle
As winter tightens its grip, a labor dispute at the Newcastle coal mines forces a shutdown, leaving families without work and the community in crisis.
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.
A very unfortunate state of affairs exists at Newcastle between the miners and the mine owners, or their representatives. For some time past there has been a disagreement as to the amount the miners should receive for mining coal in the breasts of the new workings. The company offered to pay $1.10 per lineal yard, and the miners demanded $1.50 per yard. Finally, a meeting was held where it was thought an amicable adjustment had been reached. It was decided that a certain number of men should work in the breasts for a week to test the rate. An official of the company says the result showed that $1.50 per yard allowed for a fair day’s wage, and contracts were offered on that basis. This was objected to by the men, and the company, rather than shut down, offered $1.10 per yard—the first price named. On this proposition, about one-third of the miners were willing to work, one-third were not, and the other third would not be employed on any condition. As a result, all miners came out on strike. In order to cut down expenses, a large number of employees in this city and along the road have been discharged. Car shops, the gravel train, and section gangs have been reduced to the minimum. Mr. Milner states that he expects orders to keep the mine closed until next fall, as the winter trade has been lost. It is a dire calamity to the many poor men with families who are now out of work.
“It is sincerely hoped, for the benefit of all concerned, that the miners and their employers will yet be able to come to some satisfactory understanding, that work may continue.”
The 1886 strike at Newcastle highlights the recurring tension between industrial resource extraction and the survival of the workers who sustain those industries. Much like today's gig economy and labor disputes in the Pacific Northwest, the leverage of the company—threatening to shut down operations and abandon the workforce—remains a central theme in Seattle's long history of economic volatility.
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