The Homestead Strike: The American Federation Of Labor
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.
Henry Frick was most to blame for the labor dispute at Homestead turning into a violent battle because he lowered working conditions, locked disagreeing workers out of the factory, and hired the Pinkertons. Frick lowered the pay and lengthened the work hours for the workers, causing the workers to go on strike. Lowering the workers ' conditions shows that Frick clearly did not care about the workers, causing unhappy workers who wanted to change some things about their work. Frick also locked the workers out of the factory. His quick and uncaring ways showed that whoever was working for Frick did not matter to him since he could easily replace them with workers who would not complain.
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
The two sources provided presented two different points of view regarding the Homestead Strike of 1892. The first reading is an article from the Pittsburgh Post. Since it is meant to be a record, there is no bias. Frick tries to be logical as he tries to justify his actions during the Homestead strike. He explains the different points between the Carnegie company and the men, such as the sliding scale system.
The Homestead Act and Pacific Railway Act were both implemented by the government in hopes of igniting Westward expansion. The Homestead Act was finalized in 1862, it allowed “any head of a family or anyone older than 21 could have 160 acres of public land on the payment of small fees” (W&R,133). In short, the Homestead Act allowed the expansion towards the West to be affordable and later (with the introduction of railways) it would prove profitable. The Pacific Railway Act was also passed in 1862 and it “granted a charter of incorporation to the Union Pacific Railroad, which was authorized to build a line from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to the western boundary of Nevada. The Central Pacific, incorporated under the laws of California in 1861, was
It had a lot of bloodshed. The paint creek strike will never be forgotten. After the strike began, the national United Mine workers had full support. The first month of the strike had no violence at all.
The organized labor of 1875-1900 was unsuccessful in proving the position of workers because of the future strikes, and the intrinsical feeling of preponderation of employers over employees and the lack of regime support. In 1877, railroad work across the country took part in a cyclopean strike that resulted in mass violence and very few reforms. An editorial, from the Incipient York Time verbalized: "the strike is ostensibly hopeless, and must be regarded as nothing more than a rash and splenetic demonstration of resentment by men too incognizant or too temerarious to understand their own interest" (Document B). In 1892, workers at the Homestead steel plant near Pittsburg ambulated out on strike and mass chaos the lives of at least two Pinkerton detectives and one civilian, among many other laborers death (Document G).
However, the economic crises in 1837 collapsed the labor unions because of economic hard times, and with immigrants coming in surplus willing to work for cheap, regular people could not compete and thus had to work at the beckon of the factories. Labor unions worked when the economy was resilient, but when the economy was shocked, everyone was too afraid of demanding more when there were those willing to work for
Such as a strike that happened in 1877; the strike had failed to be successful when the government has authorized the approval of police force resulting in strikers being killed and workers beginning to arm themselves for protection. Since employers continually turned a deaf ear to union demands, and unions saw a need to push harder to get the desired results.
One of the most memorable events in postal history was the postal strike of 1970. The Postal Strike of 1970 was the first national postal stoppage in the United States and also the largest walkout against the U.S. federal government. Once it happened, it crippled the functions of different industries and entities including the U.S. government, Wall Street, garment industry, department stores, and many individuals. The strike was very short, it only lasted two weeks. The workers were peaceful but confident in their demands that were needed to be met before they were willing to return to work.
The management had proposed drastic wage cuts, which the union readily refused. In response, Frick took a firm stance and adopted a "divide and conquer" strategy to break the union's strength by picking off individual workers. The escalation of tension between management and workers was disastrous, with both sides determined to stand their ground and refuse to compromise. Frick planned to enrage the workers with harsh policies to have a reason to lock out the workers and, in turn, the Amalgamated. This plan, however, ultimately backfired as it did not only serve to unite the workers and rally them together, but it also resulted in a massive rise in labor republicanism not just at Homestead but also throughout the neighboring towns.
Businesses routinely commissioned the agencies’ services to offer security during strikes and other labor conflicts. Their agents were notoriously disliked by labor unions for using force against striking workers and for frequently being viewed as being on the side of management. The Pennsylvania Homestead Strike in 1892 brought this issue to a climax. The Carnegie Steel Company recruited Pinkerton's agents to end the strike, which resulted in a hostile encounter. The striking workers eventually drove the Pinkerton agents from Homestead, and the event marked a turning point in American labor relations history.
The AFL advocated for most of the same things as the Knights of Labor. The American Federation of Labor used strikes and boycotts against owners to try and get what they wanted. Two major strikes that occurred were the Pullman Strike and the Homestead Strike. Both strikes were very dangerous and had millions of dollars of damage. Some of the strikes and boycotts did work and wages were raised, however some backfired and many workers ended up losing their
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
Throughout history, we see the impact of unions on workers. By uniting, workers received better wages and conditions as wells as respect. Many strikes in history are considered important because it shows that by fighting against a terrible work environment, the workers had a voice. However, the strike in Flint, Michigan against General Motors in 1937 deemed to be the most consequential. The conditions in General Motors were horrendous and the pay was extremely low.
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