How did the Homestead Steel Strike of 1892...?
I got this story from my dad, who was 12 years old at the time of the HOmestead strike. He lived in Pittsburgh, and he and all his pals ran to the Monongahela River to see the barge-loads of armed Pinkertons being towed up the river to Homestead. It all started when Carnegie (owner of Homestead Steel works) cut the workers pay...for the third time. They weren't getting much to start with, and this last cut was so bad no one could live on what wages were then. The workers decided they would barricade themselves in the mill -- no work gets done, no profit for Carnegie. Henry Clay Frick, Carnegie's supervisor of the Homestead Works (Carnegie was vacationing in Scotland while all this was happening) called on the Pinkerton agency -- the rent-a-cops of that era. He hired hundreds of them to break the strike. When the Pinkertons arrived at the mill, there was a lively gun battle. The workers actually won -- what an upset. Carnegie/Frick could not let that stand. He called on the governor of PA to get the state milita out to bbreak the strike. It worked. The strike was broken, all the strikers were blackballed out of the steel industry for life, and the town of Homestead became a slum. Sad story, right?
Why did the homestead steel strike occur in 1892?
Background of the Homestead Plant Labor Problems In 1883 Andrew Carnegie had bought the Homestead Works, a steel plant in Homestead, Pennsylvania, east of Pittsburgh on the Monongahela River. The plant, which had been focused on producing steel rails for railroads, was changed and modernized under Carnegie's ownership to produce steel plate, which could be used for production of armored ships. Carnegie was known for uncanny business foresight, and he had become one of the richest men in America, surpassing earlier millionaires such as John Jacob Astor and Cornelius Vanderbilt. Under Carnegie's direction, the Homestead plant kept expanding, and the town of Homestead, which had about 2,000 residents in 1880, when the plant had first opened, grew to a population of about 12,000 in 1892. About 4,000 workers were employed at the steel plant. The union representing workers at the Homestead plant, the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, had signed a contract with Carnegie's company in 1889. The contract was set to expire on July 1, 1892. Carnegie, and especially his business partner Henry Clay Frick, wanted to break the union. There has always been a lot of dispute about how much Carnegie knew of the ruthless tactics Frick planned to employ. At the time of the 1892 strike, Carnegie was at a luxurious estate he owned in Scotland, but it seems, based on letters the men exchanged, that Carnegie was fully aware of Frick's tactics. There is more here http://history1800s.about.com/od/organiz... Chetak
How was the Homestead Strike ended, and what were the consequences of that strike?
Homework time, eh? The strike ended with Frick (plant GM) hiring replacement workers for the mill under the protection of the Pennsylvania State Militia. Once he successfully got the plant running again, he simply waited out the strikers, until they began ignoring the strike and returning to work under Frick's conditions (the conditions that he had originally proposed, which had led to the strike). Within two months, nearly all of the striking workers that management wanted back had returned to work, the rest being permanently replaced.The AA (Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers) was broken and virtually bankrupted by the failed strike. They never got another steel company to sign another agreement. Within four years, the entire steel industry was pretty much union free.The union movement was not the only loser in the strike. Carnegie was deeply embarrassed by the affair, admitting that he had botched his strategy of getting rid of the union by allowing Frick to threaten the workers with their jobs.But Carnegie did want the union gone, and that result made his steel plants the most productive on earth, enabling him to enormously expand production for the next decade, until he sold his company to Morgan. In that period, he was able to reduce the price of steel so dramatically that it became the building material of choice. The skylines of New York and Chicago began to emerge in that decade because of the cheapness of steel. Carnegie plants became so competitive that he even began shipping steel to England, which would be equivalent to a Chinese company today starting to dominate search and software applications among Americans.As for the workers themselves, after an initial decline in wages in 1893 and 1894, average wages steadily climbed with the exploding demand for American steel. By 1896, they had surpassed what they had demanded during the strike, and by the end of the decade, American steel workers were among the highest paid workers in America, and American workers in general were the highest paid in the world. So, by giving total control of mill operations back to the management, they actually did not end up too badly. (Depending on the training and political proclivities of your teacher, your grade may not improve with the inclusion of info from this last couple of paragraphs.)
What was the homestead strike of 1892?
A major event in the history of Pittsburgh PA. The strike occurred at Andrew Carnegie's US Steel plant located in Homestead, a town adjoining Pittsburgh. The workers struck because Carnegie had cut their pay several times, and the last cut brought them to the point where they could not live on their pay. They struck -- refused to work -- and Carnegie's manager, Henry Clay Frick, hired strikebreakers to come in to the plant and take over the workers' jobs. (Carnegie was hiding out in Scotland at the time.) The strikebreakers came up the Monongahela River in barges. The striking men were enraged, that Carnegie could pay strikebreakers but would not pay them. They were also terrified -- if Carnegie's plan worked, they and their families might literally starve. So they blocked the entrance to the mill, and gathered what guns they had to fight. The strikebreakers -- Pinkerton employees -- marched on the mill. They had guns, too. Shooting broke out on both sides. The strikers won. Pennsylvania's governor, terrified that this victory would encourage other workers to strike, called out the Army, who overwhelmed the strikers. Many strikers were sent to jail; the rest were blackballed from employment. The town of Homestead, which had been a pleasant environment for families, became a slum...and stayed that way for decades, until unions -- which were illegal in the US until well into the 20th century -- gained enough strength to do something about the situation. A sad story, indeed. You can get far more information if you Google the Homestead Strike. There have been a ton of books written about it. I got my info from my dad, who was a Pittsburgh boy of 12 in 1892. He said he and his pals thought the strike was the most exciting thing that ever happened, and they all ran to Mt. Washington, a big hill overlooking the Monongahela River, to watch the Pinkertons sail up the river to Homestead. Hope this helps.
Which of the following factors contributed to the Homestead Strike (1892)?
B. cut in wages for steelworkers Andrew Carnegie, who attempted to portray a pro-labor image, left the country for a trip to Scotland before the strike occurred leaving the situation in the hands of Henry Clay Frick, who was well known to be staunchly anti-union. The company attempted to cut the wages of the skilled steel workers; when the workers refused the pay cut, management locked the union out (therefore, the confrontation was actually a "lockout" by management and not a "strike" by workers). Frick brought in thousands of strikebreakers to work the steel mills and Pinkerton agents to safeguard them. The arrival (on the 6th of July) of a force of hundreds of Pinkerton detectives from New York and Chicago resulted in a fight in which about 10 men were killed, and to restore order two brigades of the state militia were called out. In response to the fight between the striking workers and the Pinkertons, anarchist Alexander Berkman attempted to murder Henry Clay Frick. However, Frick was only wounded and the violent assault turned public opinion away from the striking workers. Afterwards the company successfully resumed operations without the union. The skilled workers were replaced by unskilled, mostly immigrant laborers, and labor activism was infrequent in the Pittsburgh area steel mills for decades.
What happened during the Homestead strike? How did this end?
Andrew Carnegie had left to Europe and his partner, Henry Frick, was left in charge and he tried to cut all the workers' wages...so they went on a strike. Frick hired Pinkertons, a private police force that were notorious for breaking strikes, went on down and shot 'em. Wounding many, killing several. Then a man by the name of Alexander Berkman had a failed attempt on assassinating Frick. Berkman wasn't involved with the strike, but the public associated his act with the "rising tide of labor violence". Homestead had reopened under militia protection. Frick declared he wouldn't ever recognize the union. Carnegie claimed to believe in unions, though his businesses remained non-unionized until late 1930s (that's just some extra stuff for ya there =P) That was just a summarized version of what I've got out of my own text book, hopefully it'll help. I also hope this will restore your faith in humanity and know that not everyone is a jack wagon and will help others out when they need it...you know, provided you'll help others as well ;)
What happened at the Homestead Strike in 1892 and what were the reasons for it?
The Homestead Strike was a labor lockout and strike which began on June 30, 1892, with a bloody day-long battle between strikers and private security agents erupting on July 6, 1892. It is one of the most serious labor disputes in U.S. history. The dispute occurred in Homestead, Pennsylvania, between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers (the AA) and the Carnegie Steel Company. The AA was an American labor union formed in 1876. A craft union, it represented skilled iron and steel workers. The AA's membership was concentrated in ironworks west of the Allegheny Mountains. The union negotiated national uniform wage scales on an annual basis; helped regularize working hours, workload levels and work speeds; and helped improve working conditions. It also acted as a hiring hall, helping employers find scarce puddlers and rollers. There is a lot more information at the site listed below. Good Luck!!!!
...the Homestead and Pullman strikes....?
The Homestead Strike was a labor lockout and strike which began on June 30, 1892, with a battle between the strikers and private security agents erupting on July 6, 1892. It is one of the most serious labor disputes in U.S. history. The dispute occurred in Homestead, Pennsylvania, between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers (the AA) and the Carnegie Steel Company. The Pullman Strike occurred when 4,000 Pullman Palace Car Company workers reacted to a 28% wage cut by going on a wildcat strike in Illinois on May 11, 1894, bringing traffic west of Chicago to a halt. What it tell us is that relations between labor and capital in this period were very bad; the United States had an extraordinarily violent pattern of labor relations in this era.
In 1982, a violent clash between striking steel workers and security forces employed by the canegie steel?
In 1892, a violent clash between striking steelworkers and security forces employed by the Carnegie Steel Company occurred in Homestead, Pennsylvania Pullman, Illinois Gary, Indiana Chicago, Illinois