Homestead Strike of 1892

The Homestead Strike of 1892

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Industrial Relations

Homestead is located on the Monogahela River eight miles from Pittsburgh. In 1892 the town had a population of about 12,000 people. In 1880 it had a population of about 600 people. The town evolved around the Carnegie mills. With out the steel mill the town would have little existence. The mill property covered 600 acres of the 600 acres 37 of that is covered with varies buildings. The mills facilities were lighted by electricity which allowed the mills to run day and night. The steel was used to produce boiler and armor plates, beams and structural iron. Homestead was the main supplier for the United States Navy in armor plates. Homestead had the best technology in steel mills at that time. The mill employed around 4,000 men. The town and the mills were controlled by Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick.

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was a self made entrepreneur he had a monopoly on the steel industry. Carnegie was born the son of a poor weaver in Bunfermline, Scotland. In 1845 he immigrated to the United States with his parents. He was 12 years old when he came to America. Carnegie and his parents settled in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. His first job was with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He eventually worked his way up to superintendent of Pittsburgh office and manager of its telegraph lines. At this time he invested in the sleeping car with the inventor Woodruff. The venture made Carnegie a wealthy man. He was still working for the railroad and got promoted to superintendent of the Pittsburgh division. After the Civil War Carnegie saw the potential in the steel industry. He could have stayed and worked with the railroad and been a rich man, but instead he and his brother, Thomas purchased an established rolling mill. From this purchase he would go on and become one of the wealthiest men of his time. Carnegie would implement a new steel refining process developed by Henry Bessemer. The process would convert the big batches of iron into steel. One of the major factors that contributed to Carnegie's success in the steel industry was his willingness to invest and implement new procedures and equipment. Carnegie was a self proclaimed man of the people; he donated millions of dollars to various communities for churches, baths, music hall, and libraries. By the end of his life he had used 350 million of his money on public improvement projects. As an employer he had a high reputation for liberality and sympathetic regard for the well being of his employees until the trouble at Homestead in 1892. Carnegie was not the one in control of the mill during the Homestead Strike, he had left Henry Clay Frick in charge of the mill and dealing with the union. Carnegie saw the advantages in having his own supply of coke, so in 1882 he bought a half interest in the Frick Coke Company for 1.5 million. Six years later, with the death of one of his partners he persuaded Frick to enter the Carnegie Company. The Homestead Strike was a direct result of Frick's actions leading up to the armed confrontation (Wikipedia 2005).

Henry Clay Frick

Frick was known as King Coke, because he had a monopoly on the coke in the Connellsville region. Connellsville is located about fifty miles south of Pittsburgh. Coke is used in the manufacturing of steel. By the time he was 21 years old he was the senior partner of a coke business that owned 300 acres and 50 ovens. With the opening of the Mt. Pleasant and Broad Ford railroad gave the coke industry in that region a boost. Frick capitalized on the opportunity. In 1876 Frick bought out his partners and ran the business. By 1890 the Frick Corporation owned and controlled 35,000 acres of coal land and 42 of the 80 plants in the region, 10,046 ovens, three water plants with a pumping capacity of 5,000 gallons daily, and 35 miles of railroad track and 1,200 railroad cars. Frick employed 11,000 men. During Frick's reign as Coke King he had several serious strikes. His strategy in dealing with strikes was to crush them. Frick would use Pinkerton detective agency and if necessary he would call in the state militia. The Pinkertons was a privatized army. At the height of the Pinkerton they could call on 30,000 men, that was more men then the U.S. Army had at the time. Pinkerton's had used deadly force in pervious strikes. The union workers had a deep hatred of the pinkertons (Goldner, 1997). .

Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers

The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers is the union that most of the steel workers in Homestead are members of. It was the one of the most organized and substantial labor organization in the United States. One of the fundamental principles in the doctrine of the association is to avoid and discourage strikes. The number of official strikes in the steel industry was substantially lower than in the other industries. The adjustment of wage scales by the association is largely the affair of the lodges. The equipment and requirements of different iron and steel mills vary considerably, with these factors each mill or group of mills must have a separate scale, adjusted to their needs. It is the duty of the lodges to report their wage scales to the association at an annual delegate convention. If there was a dispute in any of the districts, the convention would vote on the dispute and decide whether or not the association as a whole will take action. If there is an official strike then the association will pay the weekly benefits of the strikers. The president of the Amalgamated Association is chosen for their ability to be level headed and conservative leadership. William Weihe was the president during the 1892 strike at Homestead. The Homestead scale was prepared early in the spring. In January the superintendent of the mill, Mr. Potter sent for the joint committee of the local lodges and requested that the men prepare a scale. Mr. Potter wanted the scale early so that if there were any differences it would leave time for arbitration. The Carnegie Company usually tried to come to some sort of agreement with their workers so they could avoid a strike. For the past 3 years the workers had been working under a sliding scale. It was regarded as a sure way to prevent strikes. The sliding scale was established as the basis on which wages were to be determined, the market price of steel billets. When