Seattle General Strike
Many of the shipyard workers were employed through the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC), which was created by the federal government to acquire, maintain, and operate merchant ships to meet national defense, and foreign and domestic commerce during World War I. Outrage erupted after the head of the EFC, Charles Piez, sent a telegram to the shipyard owners in Seattle, threatening to withdraw their contracts if any increases in wages were granted. The shipyard workers viewed this as a sign that the federal government was siding with corporate interests, rather than their own. Consequently, the workers appealed to the Seattle Central Labor Council for a general strike of all workers in Seattle. Members of various unions in Seattle were polled and there was almost a unanimous support for a strike.
What was most unique about the Seattle General Strike were the ways that rank and file workers worked together to provide essential services for the people of Seattle. For example, garbage was collected, laundry workers continued to handle hospital laundry, and firemen remained on duty. Additionally, they created a system of food distribution, which distributed up to 30,000 meals a day. Army veterans who were a part of the strike even created an alternative to the police. They created a group called the “Labor War Veteran’s Guard” to act as the local police force.
Ultimately, two factors led to the end of the strike. The first was that Seattle’s mayor, Ole Hanson, employed anti-Communist rhetoric to describe the strike, accusing leaders of the strike of having affiliations with communism. Additionally, Mayor Hanson dramatically increased the presence of the police and military in order to intimidate the strikers. Another important factor that led to the end of the strike was that some of the leaders of the strike were skeptical that they would ever have their demands met. Consequently, some of the unions that represented the strikers, such as the American Federation of Labor (AFL), pressured the workers to end the strike.
After five days, the strike ended, which led to the arrest of thirty-nine strikers. Mayor Hanson took credit for ending the strike, which launched him to the national stage. He resigned as mayor several months after and commenced a lecture tour on the dangers of communism. During this time, the U.S. Senate voted to expand the work of its Overman Judiciary Subcommittee from investigating German spies to Bolshevik propaganda. Some historians credit the Seattle General Strike as influencing the first wave of the Red Scare that would emerge throughout this period. However, historians also credit the strike as serving as a large influence for the other strikes that would later take place in 1919 and 1920.
