The Bellingham Central Labor Council was established in 1891 as a representative body for members of organized trades in Whatcom County. The Council was granted an official charter by the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in September 1891, and affiliated on a state level with the Washington State Federation of Labor. In its early years, the body represented labor interests in Skagit as well as Whatcom County. Through the nature of its genesis and interests in the local business community, the Bellingham Central Labor Council maintained an active involvement in political, economic, and social developments in Whatcom County. The Council's membership was composed of representatives elected from locally affiliated unions, each of which contributed delegates and dues on the basis of their per capita membership. Council members elected a President and Executive Board from within their own ranks, and also formed standing committees on issues of special interest.
From its inception, the Council sought to encourage unionization among local trades, and acted to facilitate communication and co-ordinate action among different groups of organized labor. Its members rejected the "radical" stance of the International Workers of the World (the "Wobblies") and its call for "One Big Union" and also opposed the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO) until the unification of the AFL-CIO in 1955. Council members sought to mediate wherever possible in disputes between local unions and employers, and to improve economic and labor conditions through legislative reform. The Council worked to raise political awareness among its members, encouraging support of pro-labor parties or candidates on both a local and national level. It engaged in limited forms of direct action, however, through boycotting Whatcom County shops and businesses engaged in "unfair" treatment of workers, or the use of non-union labor.
The concerns and activities of Bellingham Central Labor Council mirrored those of many other Labor Councils in the region. The Council played an active social role in the Bellingham community, and was involved in organizing picnics, parades and social and educational events. On the political front, members sought to achieve social and economic reform through legislative means, supporting poor relief, regulation of female and child labor, the New Deal policies of the 1930s, and wage and price controls during the 1940s. Defense of skilled American labor, however, - particularly in periods of economic hardship – resulted sometimes in a backlash against the rights and interests of female and immigrant workers. Although female delegates were accorded full rights and responsibilities within the Council (Ida Parberry Peterson of the Culinary Workers' Union was elected head of the Executive Committee in 1925), its members passed resolutions during the 1930s opposing married women's presence in the workforce. Through to the 1950s, the Council also maintained its expressed opposition to migrant laborers from countries including Mexico and China.
From 1939, the Bellingham Central Labor Council issued a newspaper,
The Bellingham Central Labor Council was established in 1891 as a representative body for members of local unions in Whatcom County. Records at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies document Council activities and concerns in relation to local and national issues affecting labor between 1912 and 1976.
Administrative and corporate records include articles of incorporation, and minute books spanning the period 1924 to 1961. Minutes books document the attitudes and actions of the Council and its Executive Committee in relation to changing local economic, social and political conditions, including resolutions in support of political candidates and legislation, attempts to mediate between different groups of labor and employers, and the use of boycotts as a form of collective action. The collection also contains minutes from the Bellingham Union Card and Label League, an auxiliary body of the Council, over the span of roughly three years. Minutes and correspondence dated 1926-1975 further reflects the concerns and grievances of specific trade groups and union locals in Whatcom County, and the processes through which these were addressed. Financial records include a small number of financial reports, statements and stock records dated between 1912 and 1962.
The collection contains a small amount of materials pertaining to the activities and
interests of the Council and other local labor groups, including union statements and
resolutions, and campaign materials for candidates running for state or congressional
office in 1960. There are also copies of the
The collection is organized in accordance with the following series arrangement:
The collection is open to the public.
Bellingham Central Labor Council Records, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA 98225-9123.
Whatcom County Central Labor Council donated the records to the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies in April 1984. Additional materials were transferred in 2021.
Randall Downey originally processed the collection in May 1984, and prepared an informational paper about the records. In August 2003, the collection and finding aid were re-engineered by Ruth Steele. Additional materials including issues of the Bellingham Labor News were added to the collection in 2021.
To learn more about problematic content in our collections, collection description and teaching tools (including how to provide feedback or request dialogue on this topic), see the following
The Newspaper Collection at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies contains select
copies of the