Saw Mill Workers - 1884 Strike

From: HURON SHORES GENOGRAM Oscoda, Michigan

SOURCE

Little is known about the men who worked in the saw mills in the late nineteenth century. They worked long hours in noisy, dirty mills. They often had families living in cramped housing. Even though they received higher wages, often \$30-50 per month, they paid their own housing. The wages were often not consistent from mill to mill, pay periods fluctuated greatly from one mill to another in the same town and when a worker needed cash between pay periods, which might be weeks, they could receive orders from the company store or often turned to credit with brokers at 8% interest.

The 1880’s was the advent of organized labor in many areas of our work force, and lumber wasn’t left out of this movement, but the nature of the lumber business and it’s slow decline made it difficult to unite the workers for any length of time. Men would go on strike, but little was gained. In 1870 workers in Bay City went on strike to protest 12 hour days. They were asking for 10 hour days. As many as 1200 strikers marched on July 5th to the Third Street Bridge, where they fell into a line behind Charles Drago and marched to Center and Water St. There they met the 6 police officers led by Deputy Sheriff Perrott, who threatened to “blow your head off”, several of the first marchers in the line were arrested and the rest fled. So ended that strike!

Unrest next erupted in Oscoda/AuSable in 1884. The summer was intensely hot, forest fires raged through Tawas and Sherman Townships. Workers had experienced a reduction in pay as the lumber industry was taking a down turn. Tempers were on edge. On June 15 a circular from the Oscoda Salt and Lumber Company (Loud) went out to their workers stating: “Your wages are \$1.37 1/2 per day. If you work until the close of the season and do satisfactory work, you will receive 12 1/2 cents a day more. If you do not agree to the above, report to the office at once.” Coupled with the fact that wages had not been cut uniformly among the mills and were paid in various ways, some weekly - others semi-monthly. Some paid in full, others retained 10 to 15 days.

This circular was the catalyst for the strike on June 17. When the whistle blew at 6:00 am, the workers refused to work as did those at the J E Potts Salt and Lumber Company. These men were soon joined by the workers from Gratwick, Smith and Fryer Lumber Co., T F Thompson and Co., and millmen of John C Gram. By 1:00 pm some 800 men marched to Pack, Woods and Co. mill and demanded a surrender. Greene Pack drew his revolver and was hosed with a mill hose. The strikers, who at all times, remained calm and orderly, marched through town with banners proclaiming their demands, such as same wages as the previous year, 11 hour days and weekly pay. Resolution did not seem likely and pressured by the mill owner’s and other business owner’s, Governor Begole ordered troops from Bay City and Alpena to Oscoda/AuSable to keep order. They arrived on Saturday with a contingency of Pinkerton men who Greene Pack had requested for protection. By Monday, Sheriff Esmond asked the Governor to withdraw them as they were only irritating the situation. The Governor said he could not remove them until order had been restored and the mills were operating again. He ordered the sheriff to arrest the leaders of the revolt at once. Then on Wednesday, the troops were ordered to stand down and withdraw although the situation was unchanged. In the meantime a committee of six workers chosen to represent the strikers had attempted to meet with the mill owners. They were asking for the previous years wages, no store pay and cash on Saturday.

The response from the owners was mixed. Three were willing to work with the workers Thompson and Penoyer, J E Potts and John C Gram. The others, loudly led by Greene Pack of Pack, Woods & Co refused to recognize the committee or talk with them. Pack had been strongly against the military withdrawal as he felt the many French-Canadian workers were excitable people and without the military order they would ignore the law and there would be mob rule. After the troops left, there was no violence and the men went back to work. The three mills met some of the concessions as to cash payment every week, but on the whole the men were no further ahead and the situation for the workers and the mill owners was only to get more serious. The mills closed early that year because of the poor market for lumber. By September no logs came down the river. 1885 was no better. Bay City mill workers lost 25% of their pay and in July things exploded in the mills of Bay City and Saginaw. This eruption was much longer, lasting until September, and way more violent. Once again labor did not gain as much as they had hoped for, but shorter hours were accomplished.