The setting
What happened?
Why did it end in violence?
What were the outcomes?
References
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The main players The setting What happened? Why did it end in violence? What were the outcomes? References |
Andrew Carnegie, one of the wealthiest capitalists in American history, was borne in Scotland and immigrated to the United States in 1848. Carnegie grew up in a poor family who believed that the British working class should vote and run for Parliament to improve workplace conditions. This belief made an impression on Carnegie early in life and later Carnegie claimed to support the working class and unions. However, he was also a businessman and knew that successful business practices did not always favor employees or union activities. Therefore, he did not always conform to the union’s demands and even cut his workers' wages.
Henry Clay Frick was born in Pennsylvania to a poor family. However, he became very wealthy by manufacturing Coke (not the beverage) and by using harsh strike-breaking strategies. In 1881 he decided to undergo a merger with Carnegie. Frick soon lost control of his company’s stock to Carnegie. Friction continued to develop as Carnegie tried to express his pro-labor sentiment in opposition to Frick’s strike-suppressing beliefs.
The setting
The 1800’s were a time of many labor conflicts and an uncertain economy. Many labor conflicts ended in violence as employees tried to make their voices heard by both their employers and the general public. The city of Homestead, on the Monongahela River just east of Pittsburg, wanted to remain unionized with favorable working terms and conditions. Even though Homestead depended on the steel industry for its livelihood, the employees were willing to fight to the death for their union. The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers had about 750 members out of the 3,800 steel mill workers, but when Frick insisted that he negotiate independent contracts with the employees, about 3,000 of the steel members voted to strike. This vast number of employees prevented strikebreakers from guarding the steel mill.
What happened?
The steel workers’ contract, tied to a sliding scale wage based on the price of 4 x 4 standard Bessemer steel billets, expired in 1892. At the same time, Andrew Carnegie was on vacation in Loch Rannoch, Scotland, where he communicated only with Henry Clay Frick. Frick first offered the employees a pay cut and later said that he would not negotiate with the union. Instead he would negotiate with individual employees. The employees refused to negotiate without the union and Frick responded by surrounding the steel mill property with a solid board fence with rifle ports and topped with barbwire. The steel mill compound soon became known as "Fort Frick". Frick began to shutdown operations on June 28, 1892. Although deputy sheriffs were sworn in to guard the property, they were ordered out of town by the workers. Because the employees felt that they had a right to work, they began guarding the steel mill.
Frick then called the Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency of New York and requested 300 strikebreakers to protect the company property and equipment3. However, the workers were alerted by employees stationed at the river and quickly rushed to prevent the Pinkertons from coming ashore. The workers exchanged gunfire with the Pinkertons, rolled freight train cars on fire at the barges of Pinkertons, tossed dynamite, and pumped oil onto the Monongahela River. For about 14 hours, the workers tried to set fire to the river 4. The death toll rose as the fight wore on, and the Pinkertons eventually gave up. The Pinkertons were forced to run through a gauntlet formed by the workers and their families. Three Pinkertons and seven employees were killed during the fight. Six days later 8,500 members of the Pennsylvania National Guard were ordered into Homestead under the orders of Governor Robert E. Patterson. A very small percentage of employees returned to work after the union called off the strike, but by this time most of the employees and all of the strike leaders had been black-listed.
Why did it end in violence?
During the 1800’s workers had limited mobility and limited employment opportunities. Because employees could not migrate to jobs with better terms of employment, they were forced to make the most of the jobs that they had -- even if this meant fighting to the death over the terms and conditions of employment. In addition, the industrialization of the workplace had lead to the alienation of the crafts. The employees took pride in their work and even though they did not own the company, they felt that they had a right to work there. When Frick refused to negotiate with the union and closed down the mill the employees were willing to fight to the death for this right.
What were the outcomes?
After the Homestead strike, Andrew Carnegie was viewed as being responsible and he was never able to recover from the public scrutiny. Carnegie, who publicly expressed his pro-labor sentiment, was well aware of Frick’s anti-union sentiment. However, Carnegie left Frick in charge of the contract negotiations and remained inaccessible to the employees and media during negotiations. Carnegie’s support of Frick began in the spring of 1892 when Carnegie ordered maximum production of armor plate before the union’s contract expiration date in June. Carnegie further told Frick to close the steel mill until the employees gave in to management’s demands during contract negotiations. While in England, Carnegie instructed Frick to do anything necessary to break the strike. In a letter Carnegie also wrote that this was Frick’s chance to change things for management’s benefit because too many workers were required under the union’s rules.
Because the violence of the Homestead Strike was viewed as management's fault, the view of unions in the United States improved. The public thought the employees had reasonable requests (the employees were willing to give into all of Frick’s demands, except for eliminating the union) and the employees were peacefully demonstrating until strikebreakers entered the picture.
References
Feb. 13, 2003 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/peopleevents/pande04.html>
Feb. 13, 2003 <http://www.assumption.edu/HTML/Academic/history/His130/P-H/shootingFrick/default.html>
Feb. 13, 2003 <http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/acs/1890s/carnegie/strike.html>