The strike lasted for more than three and a half months and paralyzed much of the lumber industry in Northern California, Oregon and Washington state.
[1] The collapse of the national economy led to a decline in home building and other construction, leaving the logging companies without a market for their lumber.
[1] This, coupled with other pro-labor legislation of the Roosevelt Administration, emboldened lumber workers to push for union recognition and collective bargaining rights.
[1] Although some companies conceded on modest wage increases, the majority of union demands remained unmet, and on May 6 lumber workers across the Pacific Northwest walked off the job.
[4] With the situation becoming desperate, the employers asked Washington Governor Clarence Martin to call in the National Guard and state police to control the strikers in Tacoma.
[6] On June 24, National Guardsmen attacked over 2,000 union workers barring the entry of strikebreakers into the Tacoma lumber mills.
Lumber companies agreed to modest wage increases and a shorter workweek but refused to concede the issue of union recognition.
Forged in the heat of the battle with the police, strikebreakers and the National Guard, strikers saw the potential effectiveness of militant strikes and became more confident in their ability to negotiate with the employers on equal grounds.
[8] Under the guidance of the CIO and the IWA, the lumber workers won increased wages and benefits, and perhaps most significantly union recognition.