Have you ever heard of a “gypo” logger? It’s a term used less today than it once was because they are all but an endangered species. Gypo, or sometimes “gyppo,” loggers are those who work for themselves as opposed to loggers who work for a large logging company.
The term has its roots in the rough and tumble days of the labor movement. In 1917 the International Workers of the World (IWW), or Wobblies, called a strike to give loggers an eight-hour day in the Pacific Northwest. One theory about how gypo loggers got their name is that big logging companies tried to use Greek workers to break a strike in Everett, Washington. The term may have been a corruption of a Greek word meaning vulture. A more common theory is that it is a corruption of the word gypsy. In any case, the Wobblies began calling strikebreakers gypos, and the word became associated with independent contractors. It is said to be used almost exclusively in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
The term has its roots in the rough and tumble days of the labor movement. In 1917 the International Workers of the World (IWW), or Wobblies, called a strike to give loggers an eight-hour day in the Pacific Northwest. One theory about how gypo loggers got their name is that big logging companies tried to use Greek workers to break a strike in Everett, Washington. The term may have been a corruption of a Greek word meaning vulture. A more common theory is that it is a corruption of the word gypsy. In any case, the Wobblies began calling strikebreakers gypos, and the word became associated with independent contractors. It is said to be used almost exclusively in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
his photo of gypo loggers in camp was taken around 1918 somewhere in the Boise Basin. Courtesy of the Idaho State Historical Society Digital Collection.
RSS Feed