THE LUMBERWORKER - 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION/ FROM SEPT. 1937 to SEPT. 1987

A New TIMBER WORKER Feature—

Number Three—

five years, it was broken up by the
work of a detective agency which
established a blacklist for the op-
erators.

In 1850, the workers in the shin-
gle industry, who have always been
aggressive in union organization,
organized the West Coast Shingle
Workers’ Union with six local un-
iors in Washington, With the panic
of 1898, the union ceased to func-
tion. It was reorganized in 1901
‘and, 1902, spurred on by the activi-
ties of the Western Federation of
Miners, Several successful strikes
for higher wages resulted in the
organization of several federal
unions affiliated directly with the
AFL. and loosely connected
through a “Grand Council.” In
Everett, Wash., in 1908, a conven-
tion of the shingle weavers’ fed-
eral uniéns.was held and an jnter-
national was organized. At the
start, 1,300 members were enrolled
in the union. Membership increased
as the agitation, for better condi-
tions,continued. Local unions were
organized in California, Michigan
and Wisconsin, but. in the East
little could be done since the mills
.were closing down due to lack of
‘timber. At its height, the organ-
ization numbered 500 locals. The
International pushed the Shingle
Weaver, first as a monthly journal,
and later as a weekly paper.

In Everett, in 1904, the employ-
ers broke an agreement with the
union and declared a wage cut of
20 per cent. After a strike of five
weeks, however, the previous rate
Was restored.

Ballard, which is now a part of
the city of Seattle.and still an im-
portant shingle center, was the
chief battleground of the shingle
weavers. The earliest strike there
was fought in 1906, The union de-
manded increased wages and rec-
ognition and went on strike on
April 1 when the employers, among
them the Stimson Company, re-
fused to negotiate. After the strike
had been under way 3% months,
the International called out all its
members on, the West Coast and
tied up 60 per cent of the shingle
production in the state. The em-
ployers secured an injunction
against the union on which a hear-
ing was never held.

Two weeks after the sympathetic
strike had been declared, a special
convention in Tacoma called it off.
Many of the mills refused to re-
employ the strikers and the union
was temporarily crushed.

The union recovered in 1911
through an organization drive in
the Grays Harbor region. Several
mills refused to employ union men
and a strike was called in October,
1911, which lasted six months and
was partly successful,

The Employers’ Assn.

The employers were now organ-
izing more strongly than ever be-
fore, and in 1911 they formed the
Employers’ Association of Wash-
ington, composed predominantly of
lumbermen. In its declaration of
principles, the association stated:
“We are unalterably opposed to the
principle of the closed shop. It is
un-American, and illega] and un-
fair to the independent workman
who dpes not desire to join a union,
ito the employer who prefers to
operate, and +o the public. There-
fore, we shall defend the right of
every workman to be free and to
dispose of his time and skill ad-
vantageously and we shall main-

By A. L. TURNER

tain the right of every employer to
conduct an open shop.”

In April, 1913, the Shingle
Weavers’ Union struck in Ballard
for an advance of 10 per cent in
wages to conform +o the union
‘scale. About 300 men walked out.
But the operators called in strike-
breakers and fought the strike vi-
ciously, ‘The weapon of the frame-
up to stir up resentment against
the union and intimidate the work-
ers was used by the employers, as
E.-B, Ault, editor of the Seattle
Union Record, testified before the
Industria] Relations Commission:

Some firm furnished private
guards to the employers apd they
ed by the county sher-

in the shingle

when they picked them. And in
Ballard, particularly, there were
dynamite plants placed by one of
these guards with the object ,of
throwing odium on the union in-
volved, but, it was unsuccessful be-
cause of the. prompt action taken
by the union in exposing the entire
affair.

Pages from Lumber History

EARLY NORTHWEST STRUGGLES in LUMBER

Unions among the lumber workers date back to 1878 when the workers jn the Redwood
region of California organized and took cut a charter in the Knights of Labor. Several ac-
tive locals flourished and maintained a paper called The Western Watchman. The union
fought many successful battles to increase wages.and lower the working say from twelve to

ten hours and established a labor hospital-at Ereka, California. After a 1

litant career of

TACOMA
CONVENTION
REPORTS

r

Canadian IWA
Preparing For
Dec, Convention

Menibers Donating
For Boys Who Are
In Spain

VANCOUVER, B. C.—Vancou-
ver local No. 71, L. — 8. W. Union
elected a constitution and resolu-
tions committee, instructed, to stu-
dy the International Constitution
and prepare a report, with sug-
gested amendments, ete., for dis-
cussion at the Portland convention.
It was. recommended that ‘other
locals Wo likewise.

One “rank and file delegate was
chosen at this meeting to attend
the convention. Other delegates
will be selected at a mass meeting
late in November.

A dollar a man from “the push
to the cookhouse” amounting ‘in
all to $35 is the donation received
from the crew of the Nitinat Log
Company, Nitinat Lake, for the
Friends of the MacKenzie-Papirean
Christmas fund for the boys fight-
ing in the Spanish Loyalist rariks.

Another donation of $11.51 from
the crew of Camp 3, Sproat Lake,
has been forwarded to the Friends
of the Mac-Paps, by Eric Graff,
secretary Port Alberni Local No.
85. The-crew of this camp have:
a reputation for digging down for
@ worthy cause.

IWA Affiliations Increase
Rapidly; Over 100 Mark

More Than 100 Charters Covering 72% Of Former

Federation Membership

This Week With Applications Continuing To
Swamp Executive Officers

The number of local unions, auxiliaries and District Coun-
cils chartered by the International Woodworkers of America,
now in its fourth week of existence, passed the 100 mark this
week with applications for charters continuing to pour into

the International offices, The:

upon as quickly. as the officers who have the responsibility
of making adequate investigation and consideration of thesé
requests can take care of their duties.
date cover 72 percent of the former membership of the

Federation of Woodworkers.
No Goal Established
Ne, goal has been established in
the number of charters to be issued,
other than complete organization of
the Woodworking Industry. With
21 organizers in the field working
in UNORGANIZED territory, more
and more of the charters now being
issued are for locals which have not
previously held charters in any or-
ganization, excepting occasionally
an old 4-L or LE.U. group not classi-
fied as a bona fide union. However,
at the rate applications are coming
in it seems likely that more than
150 and possibly 200 charters will
have been issued by Labor Day.
Meetings Are Addressed

Executive officers are in wide de-
mand to fill speaking engagements
at mass meetings beihg held
throughout the industry, both by
groups chartered under the AF.L.
and by groups with no organization
at all, All of which indicates wide-
spread and very real interest in the
Pritchett is to speak at a mass meet~
ing scheduled for Longview Friday
night of this week and has challeng-
ed Abe Muir, Brotherhood repre-
sentative to meet him in debate on
the relative merits of I.W.A. and
AFL, Muir is expected to be pres-
ent in Longview for the conference
called by the Puget Sound District
Council and so-called “Loyal” un-
icns which have not withdrawn from
the Carpenters. Statements issued
from Seattle this week that five
AFL. charters were to be issued to
former members of Local 2639 in
Aberdeen, and that at least two ply-
wood charters would be issued in
Aberdeen and Hoquiam, have so far
been found to be without founda-
tion. At least, no cne can be found
who will admit knowledge of any
such applications, or even sympathy
toward the Brotherhood representa-
tives now on the Harbor, and their
plans. So for, they have installed
only cne charter, ON THE PROP-
ERTY OF THE WHITE STAR
LUMBER COMPANY, during work-
ing hours, to a group of about 20
workers who fell for the collabora-
tion of the bosses and the AFL.
organizers,

No Other Breaks

No other breaks in the solid ranks
of the IW.A. had been reported this
week and there seems little likeli-
hood of any more. The I.W.A. offers
& definite program for the workers,
which program has been outlined
by the workers themselves who,
alone, can change it. Contrasting
this with the dictatorship of the
Carpenters, their program has little
appeal to any group to think and

plan for themselves.
oo

Issued By Wednesday Of

se applications are being acted

Charters issued to

CANADIANS. STRONG
IN SUPPORT OF cl

‘The Canadian ballot is stronger
CIO than even the most optimistic
had expected, despite all rumors to
the contrary.

‘The official announcement made
at the International Executive
Board meeting in Aberdeen Sunday
shows: 1,220 for the CIO, and 46
against, with 14 spoiled ballots,

Unorganized for CIO

An interesting feature of the bal-
loting done by the B. C. Council was
@ straw vote amongst the unorgan-
ized. This ballot shows a decisive
preference for CIO with 435 in favor
of CIO to 23, against, and four
spoiled ballots.

Highest CIO Ballot

The B. C. District Councils your
for CIO is the strongest yet for affil-
jation, This is the ballot that Muir
and Stanioch prophesied would stay
with the Brotherhood.

Convention Sunday

The District Council convention
will be held in Vancouver this Sun-
lay, Aug. 7th. Important matters to
be considered will be the selection
of an executive board member for
the International Woodworkers of
America; an extensive organization-
al campaign, and the official paper
for this regign, the “B. C. Lumber-
worker.” All of these matters will
be considered in the light of making
future recommendations to the exe-
cutive board of the International.

oo

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