The Homestead Strike - 1882

Who was the strike between and how long did it last?

Between Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the Carnegie Steel Company. The dispute at the Homestead Steelworks, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, lasted 143 days and finished with a battle between the strikers and the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, a private security firm

What did previous violence in 1882 and unrest in 1889 result in?

A growth in union membership

What happened in 1892?

Company’s decision to lock the union out of the plant, following the failure to reach a collective bargaining agreement, which prepcipated the trouble

What happened with violence following the company’s decision to advertise for replacement workers?

culminated with the shooting and then stabbing of Henry Frick, who had been brought in to break the union

How did the collapse of the strike affect the union?

Unconditional surrender by workers. The violence broke the union and resulted in a dramatic decline in membership from 24,000 in 1891 to 10,000 in 1894, and by 1909 it was down to just 6300

What was the result of the strike? (1)

Carnegie Steel remained non-unionised for another 40 years. There was not a single steel plant in Pennsylvania that was unionised in 1900.

What was the result of the strike? (2)

The strike had seriously harmed the progress of workers gaining rights, while employers in other industries became even more suspicious of granting to unions

What did continued violence provide employers with

justification they needed to resist calls for recognition from labour organisations. Perhaps realising that violence achieved little, union unrest and strikes became less of a feature during the remainder of the period.