The Seattle General Strike was a work stoppage by more than 65,000 workers in Seattle from February 6-11, 1919. The strike began in shipyards when workers were refused pay increases after two years of World War I wage controls. Most of the city's 110 local unions, including members of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), joined the walkout in solidarity with the shipyard workers. The strike was non-violent and union members continued to meet the city's basic and emergency needs, however government officials, the press, and much of the public viewed the strike as a radical attempt to subvert U. S. institutions.
The newspaper coverage of the Strike was generally critical, and an Op-Ed on the front page of the February 6, 1919 "Post-Intelligencer" shown here reads: "Officially and in the name of organized labor, it is planned to harass, bully and starve this community of 400,000 souls into a state of hysterical helplessness...There is no right or justice or even common decency in this strike and nine-tenths of the strikers know it..."
Caption information source: "Seattle General Strike Project," Civil Rights and Labor History Consortium at the University of Washington, accessed June 10, 2019 at http://depts.washington.edu/labhist/strike/
ID Number: 1969.4599.1
Date: 1919
Physical Description: 1 newspaper (4 p.) : color ; 17 x 21.5 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
