ipl-logo

Bethlehem Steel Argumentative Essay

1431 Words6 Pages

Growing up on Long Island, one of the most exciting things to do was to go to New York City. To see the New York City skyline was amazing and still is today. When you look at these crazy monstrous buildings you can learn to appreciate them but how much do we appreciate all the hard work that went into creating those buildings? Without a company like the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, who knows what New York and its skyline would look like. Many decisions and factors contributed to Bethlehem Steels demise including the labor movement and class compromise, class struggle and most of all the improper funding for employee benefits. Located along the Lehigh River in a town called Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is a steel plant that used to be the worlds …show more content…

Although Bethlehem Steel prospered for what seemed like a lifetime, it slowly began to fall from grace. In 2001, after almost 100 years of being one of the best companies to work for, executives at Bethlehem Steel were forced to file for bankruptcy. (Kennedy) In 2003, the community of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, lost it’s heart and soul when Bethlehem Steel closed its doors for good. Today, the United States job market, has labor unions to protect the rights and interests of a companies employees. Unions are specifically assembled to help workers get appropriate wages and hours as well as proper working conditions. Many people today will choose to pursue a career that offers this type of advantage because it allows an employee to feel safe. For the workers of Bethlehem Steel, having a labor union, for employees, seemed crucial with their long hours. The executives, on the other hand, were extremely resistant. In 1907, the stock market plummeted and with that came a decrease in the demand for steel (Pizzola). According to Peter M. Pizzola, “In order to survive this crisis, Bethlehem Steel Chairman Charles Schwab cut …show more content…

Charles Schwab worked together with Eugene G. Grace, professional manager for Bethlehem Steel, to build one of the most profitable companies of all time. In his book, John Strohmeyer describes meeting a member of the Bethlehem Steel Legal Staff named Donald Swan. Swan recalls a memory of the mood at the plant, “Bethlehem at that time had the reputation that its hallways were lined with gold, and when you became employed there they gave you a pick to mine [it].” The employees, at Bethlehem Steel, were well-compensated and knowing this, everyone wanted to be a part of it. Especially for the executives. Many believed that the Grace built the company around nepotism. Susan Loomis agrees when she writes, “ Bethlehem made the point that in recruiting college graduates it wanted not only brains but also all-around excellence, including “a good physique”.” In order to be a part of the elite, you had to be smart and attractive. Executives were sorted and separated by management levels, forced to do everything together whether at work or not. This all came though with fantastic perks. They had golf courses, country clubs, swimming pools, tennis courts as well as a fleet of company planes. In her article, The Sinking of Bethlehem Steel, Susan Loomis explains, “Schwab had believed heartily in incentive compensation, and Bethlehem’s executives proceeded to become famous for raking it in. Grace was for a while the

Show More
Related
901 Words | 4 Pages

The singular event of the Homestead Strike turned a highly profitable and mutually beneficial relationship into a series of disagreements which only concluded with the sale of Carnegie Steel to the J.P. Morgan creation, United States Steel Corporation for $480 million dollars, approximately $329 billion dollars in 2006 dollars. That final transaction occurred only after Carnegie’s attempt to impose the terms of the Iron Clad Agreement on Frick. The Iron Clad Agreement required any shareholder of Carnegie Steel to sell his stock back to the Company at book value if so requested by the holders of 75% of the outstanding stock Carnegie owned 45% of the stock. Carnegie demanded that Frick tender his stock which would have resulted in Frick being paid approximately $1.5 million dollars. A settlement was reached and less than three years later when Carnegie Steel was sold to United States Steel Corporation, Frick was paid $51 million dollars.

Read More
103 Words | 1 Pages

Eastman, Rockefeller, and Carnegie are Captains of Industry. They are Captains of Industry because they donated their money to help children. George Eastman supported dental clinics for children who couldn 't afford treatment so their teeth are more white and they will take more pictures and use his camera. Andrew Carnegie donated more than $350 million to help build over 2,500 libraries and used his steel to make them. Also, John D. Rockefeller Founded the General Education Board in 1903 and established high South by providing free professional advice.

Read More
564 Words | 3 Pages

About 24 percent of the United State’s railroads had declared bankruptcy and within two years, around 18,000 businesses had failed. The rate of unemployment had quickly risen to 14 percent by the year

Read More
718 Words | 3 Pages

The Rockefellers cheated workers of money, causing strikes and eventually strikebreaking. They also used their power to strongarm the

Read More
843 Words | 4 Pages

Carnegie, saw a new method to produce steel;he came to the U.S and built a million-dollar steel plant. He made sure Congress passed tariffs keeping out foreign steel, and keeping its price to $28 a ton. Workers were looked down on because they were poor. These businessmen were very corrupt, they maintained high prices, but kept wages very low, and still used the government's subsidies. This act left 200,000 men working twelve hours and not winning enough money to keep their families alive.

Read More
1313 Words | 6 Pages

As America began to form, new factors of industrialization helped industrialist generate their fortunes through the use of technology, natural resources, and transportation. Many of the ndustrialists who were able to exploit the earth's resources generated fortunes, due to being the first ones to consider the endless possibilities that these materials could have in creating the new America. For instance, new innovations of technology allowed Carnegie, with the help of Henry Bessemer, to cut the manufacturing time of a single steel rail from two weeks to 15 minutes (Megan, Ruan and Patrick Ream). Carnegie’s resourcefulness in utilizing steel in order to build stronger and more stable architectures resulted in many industrialist seeking his services.

Read More
917 Words | 4 Pages

The Knights of Labor, founded by Terence Powderly and Uriah Stephens in 1869, helped create a union contract with Carnegie’s Braddock Mill. While the Knights of Labor were trying to have broad social reform around the country, they created a lockout in the Braddock Mill. Workers like Kratcha did not care as much about the union’s goals, instead they wanted the mills to be open so that they could earn money (25). Large business owners, like Carnegie, tried, and usually succeed, at breaking strikes and unions in their mills. In Homestead and Braddock, Kratcha experienced the effects of strikes, and they were not positive.

Read More
1777 Words | 8 Pages

Because of an economic stumble, Andrew Carnegie, a prominent businessman who was the head of the steel industry, had his company adversely affected. The price of steel-rolled products declined from $35 to $22 in early 1892. Henry H. Frick, a manager of the Homestead steel plant, which was largely owned by Carnegie, worked to combat the economic hiccup by cutting wages and attempting to end the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, one of the largest labor unions in the country. Once the union’s contract expired, Carnegie encouraged Frick’s efforts and instructed Frick to close the plant and wait for the workers to concede. Carnegie believed that the workers would end their union in order to hold on to their jobs.

Read More
925 Words | 4 Pages

There had to be a way to keep the industry growing, with the needs for education, as well as materials for farming and for the use of new inventions in technology. The captains of industry were very capable in providing for these needs. In Document C, Wealth, Andrew Carnegie describes what the man of wealth was responsible for: “To produce the most beneficial results for the community- Bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves.” The conditions of the lower class at the time gave these men a leading role for priorities, which they were successful with.

Read More
716 Words | 3 Pages

Rockefeller’s guilt led him to try and improve his workers’ conditions and continue “growing in grace” himself and his business

Read More
142 Words | 1 Pages

In the Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls analyzed her mother’s emotional breakdowns. In one instance, she notices “... the positive thoughts would give way to negative thoughts, and the negative thoughts seemed to swoop into her mind the way a big flock of black crows takes over the landscape, sitting thick in the trees and on the fence rails and lawns, staring at you in ominous silence” (Walls 418). Negative thoughts can consume one’s mind, whereas the positive thoughts are nugatory. The negative thoughts keep a person agonizing and stressing over it. This quote emphasizes how a negative mindset can make a person depressed or ill to be around.

Read More
809 Words | 4 Pages

The authors also examine the political and economic factors that led to the decline of the steel industry. They argue that the industry was a victim of larger economic trends, such as globalization and deindustrialization. The collapse of industry also had a ripple effect on the entire town, leading to high rates of unemployment and poverty in the specific area.

Read More
750 Words | 3 Pages

Often, he made harsh business decisions that negatively impacted his employees; however, he always felt it was justified. One reason he felt it was justified was that he was serving “America by building their enterprises.” (44). He saw the creation of wealth as a noble endeavor. When Carnegie built his company, he ended up creating one of the biggest companies in the world.

Read More
338 Words | 2 Pages

Carnegie’s views on the treatment of his workers are one of the things that he did that are considered unethical. For instance, during America’s depression in the early 1800’s, Carnegie’s workers were repeatedly asked to work long hours for little play; many unions resisted, particularly in the Homestead Strike of 1892. In the Homestead Strike, workers were angry about pay cuts and Carnegie’s

Read More
1038 Words | 5 Pages

Farmers and Industrial Workers in the Gilded Age In a time when industrialization was booming, immigrants were racing towards the “American Dream”, and cities were growing towards the sky, the United States was thriving. As a country, the United States went from rural, to mostly urban, which made America “the world’s largest industrial power” as stated by John Green. Since the U.S. had become mostly urban, this left the very few rural workers (farmers), and even some of the industrial workers unhappy. This period of industrialization is called the Gilded Age than spans from 1865 to 1900.The farmers and industrial workers responded to the Gilded Age in significantly negative ways including unions against their authority, strikes and political

Read More

More about Bethlehem Steel Argumentative Essay

Related Topics

Open Document