The history of America is also the history of working men and women. How did they fight to achieve their collective economic rights? Let's talk about all things related to unions, labor issues and strikes here.
Homestead Strike one of the most serious labor disputes in U.S. History. The dispute occurred in Homestead, Pennsylvania, between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers (the AA) and the Carnegie Steel Company.
The AA was an American labor union formed in 1876. A craft union, it represented skilled iron and steel workers. The union negotiated nation uniform wage scales on an annual basis, helped to regularize working hours, helped with workload levels and work speeds; and basically helped all in all in improving work conditions. It also acted as a hiring hall to help employers find employees.
The AA strike at the Homestead steel mill in 1892 was different from previous large-scale strikes in American history. Earlier strikes had been largely leaderless and disorganized mass uprisings of workers. The Homestead strike was organized and purposeful.
Andrew Carnegie placed and anti-unionist Henry Clay Frick in charge of this companys operations in 1881. Frick set out to break the union at Homestead. One of Fricks letters to Carnegie complained that The mills have never been able to turn out the product they should. Owning to being held back by the Amalgamated men. Carnegie was all in favor for labor unions. He agreed with Frick on his desire to break the union and reorganize it and that would make good reason for employing every man.
The AA asked for a wage increase at a time when the steel industry was doing well and prices were higher. Frick announced that he would bargain with the union for 29 days and it no contract was reached that Carnegie Steel would no longer recognize the union.
When not agreement was reached Frick locked the workers and the union out of the plant. At a mass meeting, local AA leaders reviewed contract and decided that the company had broke it due to the fact that they locked the workers out the day before the contract expired.
I would really be interested to learn more about some famous strikes in American History. Especially ones about women's rights and education. Can you help me out?
not a strike, but this a good example of the working conditions which caused strikes.
the triagle shirt waist company emploed many women. there were almost no windows and all exits were kept locked. one day the building caught fire. the women were not able to escape, many died in the fires, or fell stories to death trying to escape out of the few, small windows.
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 is one example. It is known as one of the worst outbreaks of labor during the century. It occurred during an economic depression when railroad companies cut wages in order to reduce costs. When the Civil War had ended, railroad construction got huge. About 35,000 miles of track had been laid down from coast to coast. Railroads required a large amount of money so they became a financial risk. Speculators put large amounts of money into the railroads, and as a result there was over growth and over expansion. Jay Cookes bank firm was putting funds that were not proportionate into the railroads which opened it up for morecollapse. Jay Cooke went bankrupt and it had huge effects on the economy. There were wage cuts after the Panic of 1873 and people began to distrust the poor working conditions, which led to these strikes. This prevented trains from moving. The Great Railroad Strike started on July 14th in Martinsburg, West Virginia, after wages had been cut a second time in the year by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The governor sent a militia to stop the strikers but the soldiers refused to use force against the strikers. The strike led to Baltimore and caused violent street battles. Another strike that occurred during the time of Industrial Revolution was the Pullman Strike. It was a strike of workers living in George Pullmans model company town near Chicago. It occurred when Pullman Palace Car Company workers got a 25 percent wage cut. Pullman also fired the leaders of the workers delegation that tried to bargain with him. The workers asked for help from the American Railroad Union which told them not to handle any trains with Pullmans cars. This tied up transportation across the country. The strike was broken up by United States Marshals and about 2,000 Untied States Army troops. During the strike, 13 strikers were killed and 57 were wounded. The Industrial Revolution seemed to be benefiting the country, but not the individual at the time.
I personally find strikes really amazing. Most of the time people can't decide on anything and that is why they don't accoplish their goals but with a strike, especially the ones mentioned, people were well organized and finally got what they wanted.
What era were strikes more prominant. I remember talking about the 1920s... in which many people were rebelling against the old society and strikes were occuring by the hundreds.......... probably causing the great depression. Yet people were going on strikes all the way back to the 1880s.
I remember talking about strikes during the 1920's too, and looking at the pictures online. One of the pictures I remember looking at was of a sit in strike. Instead of gathering outside, or stop going to work, the workers would sit inside the working place so bosses wouldn't be able to hire others to do the work. This would cause the company to lose money, and would help the workers negotiate with the bosses to get better wages, or whatever they wanted. However, I'm not sure how successful these type of strikes were compared to previous ones.
the reason strikes were really prominent in the 1920's was due to communist influence.
the communists were big go getters when it came to unions and worker equality.
before the 1920 communists were able to grow to a small degree in america, but due to intense discrimnation they kind of died out (in the public anyways). they did however leave thier stamp when it came to strikes.
It took place in Dover, New Hampshire in 1828. Between 600 and 800 female cotton mill employees protested in terrible working conditions at the Cocheco Manufacturing Company. The marches didnt amount to much of anything because the owners of this factory forced the women and girls back to work.
The Lawrence Bread and Roses Strike.
This strike took place in Lawrence, Massachusetts in the winter of 1912. The workers of this factory were immigrants who had come over by millions from Poland, Canada, Italy, Lithuania, Greece, Russia, Germany and more. They had voluntarily immigrated over here due to the impression given that factory workers made good money and were treated fairly. When finally coming to America they realized that it was just a ploy to retain more workers into the factories. They seen the harsh conditions they were forced to work under, unskilled tasks they were needed to perform, the dangerous machinery and the terrible living conditions. Also the wages were $5 to $8 a week, minus what they had to pay rent to the factory-owned boarding houses, which made it only possible to survive in large families if impossible amounts of hours were worked. The strike began when thousands of the workers refused to return to the mills. When this reached the national media they looked into The Plains in Lawrence where they seen the terrible 60 people to a high-rise apartment building living conditions. These apartments were packed so closely together that the sun could not reach them. After seeing the living conditions of living closer attention was paid to the severity of this situation. In an investigation of the danger of these mills and 14-year-old girl told the story of how her scalp had been torn off when her hair was caught in a twisting machine in the textile mill. After seeing this people finally got the message that immigrants were human beings too.
The Great Flint Sit-Down Strike (1936) The Great Sit-Down Strike began in December of 1936 in Flint, Michigan. It began when two brothers were fired at Fisher body plant #1. Two-thousand workers reacted by going on a sit-down strike in which the workers occupied the workplace without actually working. General Motors had been a leading source of employment in Michigan, but the workers were forced to work long hours with insufficient pay. Workers could be easily replaced, which always meant the common threat of being fired. This strike resulted int he formation of the UAW union which protected the rights of its members and helped to achieve things that the federal government has trouble doing.
Strikes seem less common in today's society than they were back then. I'm guessing it's because people are a lot more satisfied with their working conditions. They have decent wages, and way better conditions for working.
