Seattle General Strike February, 1919

What happened?

In 1919, workers organized unions all over the Pacific Northwest and the United States, increasing in rapid numbers. In the months leading up to what would be known as the Seattle General Strike, these unions became increasingly radicalized in their agenda. In the wake of the recent revolution in Russia, many workers supported a similar revolution happening in the United States.Propaganda and pamphlets circulating around Seattle at the time indicated that the cities working class agreed strongly with the goals and values of the revolution, and were serious about achieving them.

On the morning of February 6, 1919, 25,000 Seattle union members joined 35,000shipyard workers and walked out of work. The city was left at a complete stand still. Aside from basic public services provided for the population, stores and businesses across the city of Seattle closed.

The strike had come as a result of months of tension between unions in Seattle’s shipbuilding industry and business owners. They disputed over the idea of a pay increase for unskilled laborers in November 1919, just months after the armistice of WWI. The workers, enraged at the halfhearted attempts at compromise by the owners of the industrial businesses, called to the Seattle Central Labor Council for a general strike. Polls taken across Seattle’s unions also showed near unanimous support for the strike.

The unions organized leading workers from all the striking locals and formed the Genera Strike Committee. This was to ensure that all basic government services stay enacted during the strike to prevent any health hazards to the general population. Services such as garbage collections, soup kitchens, hospital laundry, and fireman stayed running on schedule. In general, work halted if it endangered the lives of others.

The biggest characteristic about this Strike was that it was peaceful. Army veterans created an alternative to the police to maintain order. The Labor War Veteran’s Guard forbade the use of force and did not carry weapons. Peacekeeping proved unnecessary. The regular police forces made no arrests in actions related to the strike, and general arrests dropped to less than half their normal number.

The Strike came to an end as a result of increased police and military presence in the city, as well as fears by the labor organizers that using the strike as a tactic to strong-arm the industry leaders would backfire. Hearing this fear, the union workers also began to go back to work for fear of the growing forces mounting against them.The city was on strike for five days before it’s end. The strike officially ended on February 11, 1919.

Why was it important?

Today we remember the Seattle General Strike as a pivotal event in American labor history. It was the first twentieth century solidarity strike in the UnitedStates dubbed a “general strike”. It was a strike of peace. Big strikes in the past led to violent endings, but the general strike was different.

The Strike came at a time where there were more workers organized in unions than ever

Where can people find more information?

Bibliography