'The Lexicon of Labor'
by Emmett Murray
The New Press, $13.95
"The Lexicon of Labor" is a recently published dictionary of the labor movement in America, inspired by a Washington State Labor Council pamphlet and written by longtime Seattle Times editor Emmett Murray. Organized alphabetically, the small book covers American labor history from A to Z, providing pithy summaries of notable terms, characters and events over the last hundred years.
Some of Murray's most interesting entries reflect Washington State's own labor history. Flip to the entries under "C" to find the description of the 1918 "Centralia Massacre," in which an armed contingent from an Armistice Day parade attacked the union hall of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW - also known as the radical and notoriously violent "wobblies"), resulting in the death of three of the attackers. One of the union men, Wesley Everest, escaped briefly, killing one of his pursuers before capture. Everest was lynched and his body mutilated. The union men were charged with murder and conspiracy and many of them were convicted. None of the attackers were ever charged or jailed.
Under "E," Murray summarizes the 1916 "Everett Massacre," a similarly violent - and unjust - confrontation involving the IWW. Arriving in Everett to support a strike, six of the workers were shot down by sheriff's deputies. Only the workers were charged with murder, but all were acquitted.
Elsewhere, the book covers the basics of the language of labor, from "Boulwarism" to "zipper clauses," from "impasse" to "salting."
The book is a handy reference for the newly initiated, but perhaps a bit slow reading for the casual reader. Although at times interesting, it is marred by its relentless union-side political correctness. The labor movement certainly was unfairly and brutally treated over the years, but was hardly without flaws itself. Nonetheless, those committed to the cause are likely to find the book interesting and maybe even worth reading aloud while walking the picket line.
