“Mills in this Section Escape Strike Threats” The Cottage Grove Sentinel, 9 May 1935
It seems certain that the Collage Grove territory is going to escape the threatened lumber strike that has closed a number of mills in the Portland area. So far there has not been the least intimation that any mill workers of this section intend to join in the demands of labor agitators for a boost in wages that mill workers declare they can not pay.
So far mills in this section have been benefited by being called upon to fill orders that would otherwise have gone to mills that have been compelled to cease sawing.
The Bradley-Woodared mill at Bradwood in which W A Woodard of this city is interested, is among those closed down.
To show how little this section has been affected, the Pioneer mill went into operation on the day set for the strike.
Putting on the relief rolls 29,156 men in Oregon and Washington who received $2,466,636 as wages during February, with 90 per cent of the men oppose to striking would be the result of shuttting down the western lumber industry.
According to government statistics wages paid in these western states are higher than those paid in the Industry elsewhere while to meet the strike demands would, with additional demands made upon the Industry, actually more that double the labor cost of producing lumber, which would make it impossible for mills of this section to compete with southern mills or with mills of Canada where wages are much lower than those already paid here. Eastern and export markets would be completely lost to western mills. Even under the code wage scale much of the eastern and export business has already gone to British Columbia and other Canadian mills.
Lumber operators seem to be unanimous in declaring that under the lumber code scale of wages mills were losing money or barely breaking even so that any demand that wages be doubled can mean only one thing, shutting down operations.
“Timber Workers Join A.F.L. Organization”
“Timber Workers Ask Mill Owners to Sign”
