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Prosecution: Andrew Carnegie And The Strike At Homestead

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Andrew Carnegie is a steel plant owner who claims to support unions and the working man. His charge is that he ignored the legitimate grievances of his employees at his plant in Homestead Pennsylvania and that his neglect contributed to the death of several of his employees during a strike at Homestead in June of 1892 and that he should be held accountable. Andrew Carnegie has dealt with strikes at his plants before. One strike was at his plant in Braddock Pennsylvania where he settled with the workers by agreeing to higher pay but without input from the Union, essentially ruining it. The union at Homestead was one of the last unions in any of his plants. Leading up to the strike at Homestead, Andrew Carnegie left for a vacation in Scotland. During this time he left plant owner Frick in charge. Frick openly hated unions and lowered the wages at …show more content…

Frick hired 300 pinkertons who are armed guards and also built a fence around the plant. The Prosecution's first witness was Hugh O'Donnell. He had been working at the Homestead plant since before Andrew Carnegie owned it. He was one of the workers that had gone on strike. He stated that under Carnegie's management, life was worse for employees while Carnegie was making an obscene amount of money. There were lots of horrible burn injuries because of a new method of steel production in the factory using coke. Many workers became deaf. Under Frick’s management the workers wages were lowered from 26 dollars to 23 dollars per month. He also hired the pinkertons to guard the plant from rioting and fired workers. O’Donnel said that Carnegie is at fault because he gave Frick power and allowed him to do his dirty work for him. The second witness was Sylvia Plucinski, a Polish immigrant whose husband was

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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.

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Andrew Carnegie had 12 mills within Homestead and in 1892 steelworkers decided to strike against him over the organization of labor within the mills. The process of the Homestead Strike began when the Amalgamated, who were one of the most acclaimed unions in the AFL (American Federation of Labor), tried to renew their contract with Andrew Carnegie. While the mill had both skilled and unskilled workers, the company had decided that they wanted the majority to take over the minority completely, and although Andrew Carnegie was known for being in favor of labor unions he saw that his contract only benefit everyone but him. After the Amalgamated had brought this issue to Carnegie he then passed if off onto the CEO of his company, Henry Clay Frick, who also happened to be anti-labor. When presented with the contract, Frick decided to completely ignore their wishes and instead did not even want to recognize the union at all.

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They did not accept any competition and would go through great lengths to remain the main steel producers. This meant lowering production costs and paying lower wages. Their controversial decision to take down the AAISW (Amalgamated Association of Steel Workers) in 1892 led to the most horrific, catastrophic event in history. The workers were furious at getting lower wages and refused to work. Carnegie inconveniently leaves to his home in Scotland leaving Frick with all the trouble.

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Andrew Carnegie owned and steel mill in Homestead, Pennsylvania that was slowly growing unfair, Carnegie put a man named Henry Frick in charge that wanted to lower people's pay and raise hours in the new contracts for the worker. The workers at the Homestead Steel mills were very upset so they went on strike. The strike was very violent and 16 people died. The main person responsible for the strike was Andrew Carnegie. He is to blame because he left to Switzerland to get away from all of this without having a new contract for his employees

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On July 30, 1892, the strike of the workers of Homestead Mill began. The chairman of Carnegie, H.C. Fick, quickly went to work protecting the Mill, by wrapping the plant in electrified fence topped with barbed wire. Also, Fick set up searchlights and even invested in a patrol boat for the river located next to the factory. Then it began: 3,500 men with access of up to 500,000 dollars against the wealth and power of Carnegie Steel.

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As Carnegie saw himself as a virtuous employer but the policy which he implemented contradict his public belief. Because, since his origins related to that of his workingman within his company and used this identity which helped sway public support for him and his company. Standiford takes notice by adding “Had Carnegie been challenged he would surely have defended himself vigorously as the possessor of a special understanding of the laborer, having himself been ‘one of the downtrodden.’ And he would always on some sentimental level identify with the less fortunate... Nevertheless, Carnegie continued to make noble statements about the workingman to the very end of his life.”

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The Homestead Strike In Homestead Pennsylvania, Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish man owned a steel plant. Carnegie had emigrated from Scotland as a young boy, and had had to work his way up the American work industry. He had a business partner named Henry Clay Frick who owned a coke manufacturing company. Carnegie and his friend had an individualistic opinion when it came to the matters of the workers union, and opposed any form of authority by anyone.

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Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant, owned a steel mill in Pennsylvania. His business partner, a coke manufacturer named Henry Frick, both were against labor unions. Both tried to stop their workers having unions forever, and Frick told the employees that if they wanted to continue working there, they couldn’t be a part of a union. Frick prepared for a fight by hiring the Pinkertons to end any strikes. Once the workers saw them, however, they started to shoot.

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This unfair work to pay rate ratio was very unfair. Workers did not have much a say in their pay because the jobs did not require an education which made the workers very dispensable. This caused outrage at one of his many steel mills. At his Homestead plant in Pennsylvania, a big movement took place. The Homestead workers were upset about their wages getting reduced.

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In the end, the workers were forced to go back to work and they were forced to take a pay cut.” Carnegie refused to give his workers a raise and improve their working conditions. This proves that Carnegie cared more about his reputation and keeping sales than his employees. He would kill some of them just so they would comply and go back to work. To prove this, there is a reason it was renamed the homestead massacre in replacement of the homestead

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The strikers eventually won causing the company to stay closed. Then five days later the governor in Pennsylvania sent soldiers to restore order and re-open the the plant. Two months later the strike was called off, Carnegie was criticized for Fricks actions. Carnegie did a lot to achieve his large empire, he fought competitors and made good business

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Carnegie’s right hand was Henry Frick, who was known for his hostility. Frick was left in charge of the Homestead

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This is also known as the Homestead Strike. Carnegie then hired Pinkerton thugs to attack the workers. In the same excerpt, the author says, “he hired Pinkerton thugs to intimidate strikers. Many were killed in the conflict, and it was an episode that would forever hurt Carnegie's reputation and haunt the man.” He uses unfair ways to have a successful business through low wages, and using wealth to his

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