100 YEARS AGO TODAY
January 19, 1913
After lying idle at the dock for several weeks on account of the strike, the fishing steamer Zapora, of the International Fisheries company, is prepared to go to sea today with a non-union crew, according to the fishermen. When the Zapora shifted down to the Northern Pacific dock this morning to take aboard frozen herring for bait, a number of union fishermen met her and a motorcycle police officer was sent to the waterfront to prevent a clash. 50 YEARS AGO TODAY
January 19, 1963
Machinists Union members will vote next Wednesday on a contract offer from The Boeing Co. that includes wage raises recommended by a presidential panel but rejects the union’s demand for a union shop. The AFL-CIO union agreed Friday to postpone a strike, which had been threatened for midnight last night, pending the outcome of the balloting. A simple majority of those voting will be enough to approve the contract. The union represents about 40,000 employees at Boeing airplane and missile plants here and in Wichita, Kan., and smaller installations elsewhere.
25 YEARS AGO TODAY
January 19, 1988
Chuck Robbins, soon to be Pierce County’s new sheriff, has a simple rule for rookies or any other member of the force: Don’t take anything free – not a cup of coffee or anything else that appears to be of insignificant value. That advice isn’t something he learned in a police manual. It is something he learned as a spectator during Pierce County’s infamous 1978 corruption scandal. At the time, former Sheriff George Janovich and 14 others were charged with a series of crimes involving attempts to control the county’s tavern and other nightlife businesses. Janovich and eight others were convicted on racketeering charges. Robbins lived through the scandal and came out clean. He was offered a bribe, but he didn’t take it.
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