AFL-CIO. King County Labor Council of Washington

The King County Labor Council of Washington has long been the communal decision-making body of the various union locals in King County. From the mid-1920s until the reunification of the AFL and CIO in 1955, only AFL-affiliated unions were represented on the Council. At other times, however, the vast majority of King County's locals had a voice on the Council.

The Council has passed through at least four distinct periods in its history. The Council originally began in 1888 as the Western Central Labor Union. This body changed its name to the Central Labor Council of Seattle and Vicinity in 1905. These groups occasionally joined coalitions with Populists and other reform groups in local and state politics. Nonetheless, much of the early Council's energy was spent simply trying to survive. The second phase of the Council's history began roughly in 1914 with the labor shortage that allowed unions to organize much of Seattle. The Council grew increasingly radical in this period and became the dominant force in Seattle's powerful progressive coalition. The loss of the Council's power began with the mass layoffs of shipyard workers after World War I. These layoffs led the Council to call the Seattle General Strike of 1919, the only truly city-wide general strike in American history. Employers responded to the failed strike with an open shop drive that de-unionized most of King County. A series of internal power struggles plagued the Council after the strike. The Council voted to expel members of the Industrial Workers of the World in late 1919 and Communist Party members in 1925.

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