While his first term began with strong support from labour, he fell out of favour after his attempts to work with other Puget Sound mayors to demand help from the state and Governor Roland Hartley with relief efforts failed.

Longshoremen in all ports of the West Coast walked out, and in Seattle, the Masters, Mates, and Pilots Union refused to handle cargoes as the shipping companies began recruiting University of Washington students as strikebreakers.

This, combined with Mayor Dore's refusal to ask Governor Martin to call in the National Guard, effectively ended this strikebreaking effort.

During inter-labour conflict between the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, Dore sided with Dave Beck and the AFL over the rival CIO.

Mayor Beck's other notable effort was defeating a proposition to refinance and rebuild Seattle's streetcar system in line with the wishes of the Transit Worker's Union.