A 1970 federal court order established minority hiring percentages for construction unions. Two years later, the United Construction Workers Association (UCWA), a minority group, protested Seattle’s ongoing non-compliance with the order. In early June, they closed down a number of construction sites around Seattle. Despite a temporary restraining order from the King County Superior Court, UCWA members gathered on June 7 at a construction site at Seattle Central Community College (now Seattle Central College).

In this photo, UCWA leader Tyree Scott holds his hands on his head during his arrest by the Seattle Police at Seattle Central Community College.

An electrician who became a Seattle civil rights activist and labor leader, Tyree Scott (1940-2003) founded the Central Contractors Association, a group of Black activists, in 1969, seeking compliance in federal building projects. The group shut down every large federal construction site in Seattle to protest discrimination against Black contractors and workers. Scott then founded the United Construction Workers Association (UCWA) in 1970 to promote minority employment in the construction industry and prevent discrimination. The UCWA negotiated on behalf of Black workers, led protests, initiated lawsuits, and organized worker support groups. In the 1980s and 1990s Scott began working abroad to help laborers in developing companies, and in 1997, he led an international conference in Seattle to discuss the leadership of labor and civil rights activism globally.

Caption information source: “UCWA Still Tough: Jobs or Shutdowns”, by Don Tewkesbury and Wayne Jacobi, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 7, 1972, pages A1 and A3.
Caption information source: "United Construction Workers Association" by Kayomi Wada, retrieved at http://www.blackpast.org/aaw/united-construction-workers-association
Caption information source: "Tyree Scott (1940-2003)" by Mary T. Henry, retrieved at https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/scott-tyree-1940-2003/