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| Title | Labor spy report by Agent #106 to Broussais Beck, May 19, 1919 |
| Author | Unknown |
| Date of Publication | 1919 |
| Notes | In this report to Broussais Beck on May 19, 1919, "Agent #106" begins by describing a conversation at the Labor Temple regarding the future of the newly-organized Federated Unions, before moving on to a conversation at the Collins Building regarding the next convention of the Washington State Federation of Labor. The men at the Collins Building express a desire to defeat the State Federation's current president, William Short, but they despair of being able to elect a true radical. Later in the evening, #106 returns to the Labor Temple to attend the meeting of the Electrical Workers Local 77. Letters are read from the headquarters of the I.B.E.W. and from the Yakima local over a dispute between the two. The I.B.E.W. claims that Yakima's intention to strike locally will be a disruption that prevents a successful national strike, but Yakima claims that the I.B.E.W. is stalling and has no intention to call a strike. Yakima asks for I.B.E.W. locals across the state to meet and discuss the situation, in order to plan their next move. A letter from "Thier of Spokane" also urges a local convention be held. After discussion of a few related items, the meeting concludes with a vote on whether Local 77 will join the Mooney strike on the 4th of July: the vote passes 43-3. |
| Contextual Notes | Broussais Coman Beck (1886-1936) was a prominent Seattle businessman and rowing enthusiast. He was educated at the University of Washington and at Yale, graduating from the latter university in 1911. He returned to Seattle later in the 1910s to work as the store manager for the Bon Marche. In the wake of the Seattle general strike of 1919, Beck paid spies to infiltrate the labor movement in Seattle, and received frequent reports from his agents (often accompanied by clippings or ephemera relating to labor organizations) in 1919 and 1920. Due to the information acquired through these reports, the Bon Marche was centrally important to the alliance of Seattle employers who organized against labor, a group called the Associated Industries of Seattle -- and, consequently, the Bon Marche became the target of increased pressure and boycotts by organized labor in this time period. |
| Subjects (LCSH) | Beck, Broussais C., 1886-1936; Labor unions--Washington (State)--Seattle; Business intelligence--Washington (State)--Seattle; Union busting--Washington (State)--Seattle; Industrial relations--Washington (State)--Seattle; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Local 77 (Seattle, Wash.) |
| Geographic Coverage | United States--Washington (State)--Seattle |
| Digital ID Number | PNW00852 |
| Ordering Information | To order a reproduction or inquire about permissions contact: photos@u.washington.edu. |
| Digital Collection | Pacific Northwest Historical Documents
|
| Repository | University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division. |
| Repository Collection | Broussais C. Beck papers. Accession No. 0155-001. Box 1/2 |
| Object Type | Typescript
|
| Physical Description | 1 leaf; 28 x 21.5 cm. |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned from original text or image at 150 dpi saved in TIFF format, resized and enhanced using Adobe Photoshop, and imported as JPEG2000 using Contentdm software's JPEG2000 Extension. 2011. |
| Restrictions | For information on permissions for use and reproductions please visit UW Libraries Special Collections Reproduction & Use page: http://content.lib.washington.edu/sc-use.html |
