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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2020)
PAGE 2 | August 21, 2020 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS Highlights from 12 decades of labor journalism For 120 years, the Labor Press has been chronicling the labor move- ment. 1900: U.S. Industrial Commission declares trade unions are good for democracy. 14 new international unions chartered by the AFL, 734 federal and trade locals affiliate. 112,000 miners walk off the job in Pennsylvania, the largest walkout in American history to that time. The average life expectancy is 49, and 63 percent of men over 65 are still in the la- bor force; pensions are extremely rare. There are 8,000 registered automobiles in the U.S. 1901: 58,000 Machinists strike for 9-hour day. National Metal Trades Association an- nounces “open shop” drive, establishes strikebreaking service. 1902: G.Y. Harry of Sheet Metal Workers Local 16 is president of the Oregon Federation of Labor (OFL). Or- ganized labor in Oregon has a political arm that plays a role in winning direct legislation (the initiative and referendum). 1903: Women’s Trade Union League organizes to aid unionization of women. AFL charters the Teamsters Union, with Local 162 chartered in Portland. C.H. Graham elected president of OFL. Wright brothers fly their first airplane. 1904: AFL has membership of nearly 1.7 mil- lion. 1905: Industrial Workers of the World founded in Chicago. Supreme Court holds that a maximum hour law for bakery workers NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the la- bor movement. Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-profit mutual benefit corpo- ration owned by 20 unions and councils including the Ore- gon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Office location: 4275 NE Halsey St., Portland, Oregon Mailing address: P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213 Phone: (503) 288-3311 Web address: http://nwlaborpress.org Editor & Manager: Michael Gutwig Associate editor: Don McIntosh Office manager: Jill Lukens Printed on recycled paper, using soy-based inks, by members of Teamsters Local 747-M. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Individual subscriptions are $15 a year for union members, $23 a year for all others. Pay by credit card online at nwlaborpress.org/subscribe, or send a check to our mailing address (above) along with your name, address and union affiliation, if any. Group rates of $11.52 a year per person are available for 25 or more subscriptions; call 503-288-3311 for details. CORRECTIONS: See an error? Please let us know at editor@nwlaborpress.org or by phone at 503-288-3311. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: If you move, let us know at nwlaborpress.org/subscriber-services or by mail at our mailing address (above). Be sure to provide your old and new addresses and the name/number of your local union. Please allow three weeks for the change to take effect. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS P.O. BOX 13150 PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 Portland trade unionists and other activists mass in the Park Blocks in 1912 in a sympathy demonstration for striking textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Oregon Historical Society file photo. is unconstitutional under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. 1906: Citi- zens Alliance of Portland tries to “precipitate a bloody clash between white American workingmen and imported Asians,” which is averted “through the tact and coolness of lo- cal officers of the Longshoremen’s Union.” Street Carmen strike Portland Street Railway Light & Power Co. for better work conditions. Estimated 30,000 attend Labor Day celebra- tion at The Oaks. 1907: Willamette Iron Works fires union men and hires strikebreak- ers to force showdown on open shop propo- sition. More than 5,000 union members walk in biggest Labor Day Parade on record in Portland. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 2,077 strikes involving 176,337 workers, the fewest since 1892. Enthusiastic gathering of union men and sympathizers assemble to ratify Labor Party’s platform. 5,000 unionists demonstrate their sympathy for striking street carmen.1908: Central Labor Council of Port- land & Vicinity affiliation certified. Danbury Hatters workers are prosecuted under Sher- man Anti-Trust Act for strike-related actions; after years in court, strikers are found guilty of “conspiracy;” AFL runs national fundraiser to pay off fine and save strikers’ homes from being seized. AFL President Sam Gompers, Vice President John Mitchell, and Secretary Frank Morrison receive jail sentences (one year, nine months and six months) for exer- cising their rights of free speech in boycott of Buck Stove and Range Co. Organized labor wants convict labor removed in the manufac- turing of stoves at the Salem, Ore., peniten- tiary. Work on the new Bull Run pipe line and the Madison Street Bridge starts. U.S. Supreme Court upholds constitutionality of Oregon’s 10-hour workday for women. Na- tional Building Trades Department of the AFL is established. Portland Building Trades Council gets first charter. 1909: “Union en- thusiasm running high in Portland” with new Labor Temple on Alder Street. “Uprising of the 20,000” female shirtwaist makers in New York strike against sweatshop conditions. Portland Bartenders Union League rallies at its First Street hall, focusing on prohibition of liquor. Label Trades Section of Central Labor Coun- cil adopts constitution. Meatcutters of Port- land form the International Meat Cutters Union. Building Trades Council passes a rule prohibiting any single affiliated union from An employee of Roberts Brothers— a department store in downtown Portland later known as Lipman’s— pickets for the 8-hour day for work- ing women in the early 1900s. boycotting or striking without first getting the consent of the council. 5,000 union members, led by the Musicians Union’s brass band, pa- rade through the streets of Portland to protest the jailing of Gompers, Mitchell and Morrison. Politics, strikes, boycotts and all other issues make way for labor’s fight against tuberculo- sis. Will Daly of Multnomah Typographical Turn to Page 9
