Strikes
[The McKees Rock Strike was] The greatest labor fight in all my history in the labor movement
--Eugene Victor Debs
Throughout the labor movement, many strikes have occurred all over the United States. Strikes were a useful way to take action and try to make a difference. These forms of resistance weren't complex in theory; all laborers at a certain workplace would stop doing their job correctly or stop working entirely to convince the business owner to improve conditions. However, they weren't always successful. In some cases, the business owner would simply fire all of the strikers and hire an entire new set of workers. But some strikes are still remembered today for many different reasons. Some of the more famous strikes include the 1768 New York tailors strike, the 1892 Homestead strike, and the McKees Rock Strike.
In 1768, a group of journeymen tailors orchestrated the earliest recorded strike. A journeyman is one who has completed an apprenticeship in a certain trade or craft that is certified to work under the supervision of a master. The New York tailors were faced with a potential wage reduction. With wages already lower than ever, the new wages wouldn't be enough to support a family. Thus, the journeymen led their own strike. Accomplished tailors with adequate training were difficult to find. Not wanting to lose valuable workers, potential customers and skill in the clothes-making business, the business owner was forced to comply with the tailors' demands and protests.
Homestead, Pennsylvania was home to one of the largest and most successful companies, Carnegie Steel Company, and the most powerful trade union, the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers. A strike in 1889 led to a three year contract in favor of the steelworkers, but Andrew Carnegie was determined to shatter the union. The manager, Henry Clay Frick, increased production. The union, displeased with Frick's demands, didn't accept the new conditions. As a response, Frick began locking workers out of the plant. Carnegie Steel Company's workers were fed up with their harsh treatment and 3,000 out of 3,800 voted to strike. Outraged, Frick ordered 300 Pinkerton guards to shut down the angry strikers. On July 6, 1892 the Pinkertons arrived and were met head-on by around 10,000 angry strikers. The battle lasted all day and resulted in nine strikers and seven Pinkertons killed with most others involved in the strike injured, some fatally.
A third well-known strike in U.S. history in the McKees Rock Strike, which took place in the year 1909 at McKees Rock, Pennsylvania. Pressed Steel Car Co. plant was the workplace of 5,000 to 8,000 laborers. Most were immigrants from around the world; collectively there were around sixteen different nationalities. These people's job was to create railway cars. It seems an easy enough task, but the death toll averaged out to one death a day. The workers did not have a set wage, but were paid by the "pool system." Essentially, they received however much the foremen decided to pay them. July 10, 1909, workers were paid an abnormally low amount and forty riveters announced to the business man that they refused to work until they were notified of the pay rates. All forty were fired, which was the last straw for the thousands of other workers. Within the next two days, over 5,000 laborers were participating in the McKees Rock strike. Strikers shot rifles at anyone who opposed them, from a steamer to deputy sheriffs to state constables. It was a battle of sheer numbers, one that the strikers won easily. As a reward, the pool system was demolished, wages would be increased by 15% within the next two months, and all strikers would be rehired.
It's strikes and battles like these along with people willing to risk their lives for better working conditions that have brought work circumstances to where they are today.
In 1768, a group of journeymen tailors orchestrated the earliest recorded strike. A journeyman is one who has completed an apprenticeship in a certain trade or craft that is certified to work under the supervision of a master. The New York tailors were faced with a potential wage reduction. With wages already lower than ever, the new wages wouldn't be enough to support a family. Thus, the journeymen led their own strike. Accomplished tailors with adequate training were difficult to find. Not wanting to lose valuable workers, potential customers and skill in the clothes-making business, the business owner was forced to comply with the tailors' demands and protests.
Homestead, Pennsylvania was home to one of the largest and most successful companies, Carnegie Steel Company, and the most powerful trade union, the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers. A strike in 1889 led to a three year contract in favor of the steelworkers, but Andrew Carnegie was determined to shatter the union. The manager, Henry Clay Frick, increased production. The union, displeased with Frick's demands, didn't accept the new conditions. As a response, Frick began locking workers out of the plant. Carnegie Steel Company's workers were fed up with their harsh treatment and 3,000 out of 3,800 voted to strike. Outraged, Frick ordered 300 Pinkerton guards to shut down the angry strikers. On July 6, 1892 the Pinkertons arrived and were met head-on by around 10,000 angry strikers. The battle lasted all day and resulted in nine strikers and seven Pinkertons killed with most others involved in the strike injured, some fatally.
A third well-known strike in U.S. history in the McKees Rock Strike, which took place in the year 1909 at McKees Rock, Pennsylvania. Pressed Steel Car Co. plant was the workplace of 5,000 to 8,000 laborers. Most were immigrants from around the world; collectively there were around sixteen different nationalities. These people's job was to create railway cars. It seems an easy enough task, but the death toll averaged out to one death a day. The workers did not have a set wage, but were paid by the "pool system." Essentially, they received however much the foremen decided to pay them. July 10, 1909, workers were paid an abnormally low amount and forty riveters announced to the business man that they refused to work until they were notified of the pay rates. All forty were fired, which was the last straw for the thousands of other workers. Within the next two days, over 5,000 laborers were participating in the McKees Rock strike. Strikers shot rifles at anyone who opposed them, from a steamer to deputy sheriffs to state constables. It was a battle of sheer numbers, one that the strikers won easily. As a reward, the pool system was demolished, wages would be increased by 15% within the next two months, and all strikers would be rehired.
It's strikes and battles like these along with people willing to risk their lives for better working conditions that have brought work circumstances to where they are today.