![]() Workers in Seattle generally understood what the dockworkers understood – that their power came from their ability to stand together, and the only way to protect themselves was to protect each other. The general strike call won the support of a large majority in every union and a general strike was set for February 6, sponsored by 110 unions. In their absence, the SLC agreed to poll their members on the question of joining with the dockworkers in a city-wide general strike in sympathy with the shipyard workers. At the time, many of the conservative local labor union leaders who might have mobilized opposition to this move were at a conference in Chicago. The dockworkers appealed to the Seattle Labor Council (SLC) to join their struggle. Workers were organized and were quickly radicalizing. By 1919, that number had risen above 60,000. In 1915, Seattle had 15,000 workers organized into various unions. Over the course of the war, with the need to build and transport massive amounts of military equipment and supplies, labor unions had flourished. Inspired by the heroic Russian Revolution and the realization that their power came from their collective action, 35,000 dockworkers walked off their jobs together. This time, however, the divide-and-rule tactic failed. Employers divide workers at every possible turn – whether by job roles, race, gender, sexual orientation, or nationality – to maintain control over their employees. This is a classic divide-and-rule tactic which has echoed throughout history. When Seattle dockworkers demanded pay increases for all, the employers responded by offering increases only for the better-paid jobs. ![]() ![]() Both of these policies aim to break union rights, which results in lower living standards for all workers.īut workers in Seattle weren’t having it. What they found instead were bosses that went on a right-wing “open shop” offensive, which finds its echo today in the “right to work” offensive. During the war workers reluctantly swallowed the loss of pay, but when the war officially ended in November 1918, they wanted their promised pay increases. Something similar happened in the US after WWI. ![]() But a few years later as it became apparent to more and more people that the bankers who caused the crash were getting bailed out at our expense, the mass anger erupted in the Occupy movement of 2011. During the recession, many workers swallowed the idea that there had to be social service and budget cuts. Meanwhile the Wall Street billionaires who caused the recession are making more money than ever. This hypocrisy is mirrored today as workers have still not recovered from the 2008 recession. Meanwhile they had to deal with price hikes to support increasing profits for the billionaire-class of that day which, in effect, meant pay cuts for the working class so that the richest could see their wealth soar. An Injury to One Is an Injury to Allĭuring World War I, workers in the US were faced with wage freezes in the name of doing their patriotic duty for the war. It lasted a mere five days and ended in retreat, but it would have a lasting impression and legacy that would inspire many workers for decades to come. For the first time, working people in Seattle felt their power to run society for human need rather than corporate greed. Inspired by the Russian Revolution a year and a half before, Seattle workers completely shut down the city for five days in February 1919 in solidarity with the struggle of the dockworkers. opposing Donald Trump’s divide-and-conquer agenda, 35,000 Seattle dockworkers walked out in an action that led to the first general strike (a strike of all workers in an area) anywhere in the U.S. On a cold January day, 98 years before the January 2017 Women’s March surged across the U.S. ![]() Strikers gather groceries as the strike begins. ![]()
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