James Gregory Seattle General Strike 1919

‘The Seattle strike of 1919 was the first large-scale general strike in the United States. Although sparked by wage grievances of shipyard workers, the strike quickly grew into a larger showdown between the city’s AFL movement and local politicians, business interests, and federal war agencies, all of whom saw it as a crucial test of the power that organized labor would wield in the wake of World War One.’ By Roberta Gold From Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide, by St. James Press. In this interview University of Washington historian James Gregory recounts the events.