1916 West Coast waterfront strike

[5] On June 1, 1916, workers in all twelve West Coast ports went on strike to demand higher wages and an end to the open-shop system.

[1][3][5][2][6] A brief truce was established on June 9 but quickly collapsed after striking workers were killed in San Francisco and Seattle.

The last striking locals in Puget Sound reached a settlement on October 4, 1916, and workers returned to work without winning their demand of a closed shop.

[7] In Seattle, employers attempted to exploit racial animosities by bringing Black workers as strike breakers.

Motivated by the success of the Russian Revolution and the lack of wage increases after World War I, longshore workers went on strike in Seattle in 1919, Portland in 1922, and San Pedro in 1923.

In the following years, the US government engaged in brutal repression against the IWW, raiding their offices and arresting and deporting their members.