401:'s Federal Steel with Andrew Carnegie's steel operations, it also incorporated the plants of the American Tin Plate Co. The AA was confronted with a crisis: It had to organize the plants of U.S. Steel before the corporation, with its comparatively limitless resources, could stop the union drives. But the executive committee of U.S. Steel was equally aware of the threat the AA posed, and the company's board of directors secretly adopted a resolution on June 17, 1901, opposing any unionization attempt. U.S. Steel's Tin Plate subsidiary reneged on promises to recognize the AA on the grounds that the union had not won contracts at every plant owned by the American Sheet Steel Co. Sheet Steel executives, meanwhile, not only refused to recognize the union at its nonunion plants but also began withdrawing recognition and refusing to bargain at its unionized plants.
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466:. The more aggressive labor leaders began to reveal a suspicion of the alliance; socialists became convinced that Gompers had sold out; even some middle-class reformers sympathetic to labor began to doubt. Such attitudes became the basis for Mitchell's removal as U.M.W. head in 1908 and for attacks upon Gompers by radical labor elements until his death in the mid-twenties. They served to retard the A.F.L.'s development for more than a generation.
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U.S. Steel slowly dismantled AA unions in its plants. When the company merged its
National Steel and American Steel Hoop subsidiaries into its Carnegie Steel arm in 1903, the union found itself servicing contracts with the now-nonexistent Steel Hoop company rather than Carnegie. In the depression of
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At a meeting on August 3, 1901, Morgan refused to renegotiate the wage agreement. It had been agreed to by
Shaffer and Williams, and he considered it binding. The AA executive board ordered Shaffer to call a strike, to begin on August 10. The strike was crushed. At several plants, workers refused to
441:
The strike against U.S. Steel ended on
September 14, 1901. The AA settled for terms far worse than those offered in August. Only plants which had started and ended the strike were covered, which meant that the union lost recognition at 15 plants. The company even won a pledge from the union not to
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rejected the deal; after having demanded the unionization of every Sheet Steel plant, he would not be satisfied with anything less. A meeting between Morgan and
Shaffer (accompanied by AA secretary John Williams) resulted in an additional wage agreement. But this wage agreement, which covered only
409:
The AA tried to apply pressure on Sheet Steel by organizing U.S. Steel—the company which supplied Sheet Steel with most of its raw material. The AA settled on staging a recognition strike. U.S. Steel executives, worried about the impact of a strike during a high-demand time of the year and angered
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Local AA unions often assisted in their own destruction. To make up for lower wages, AA members often worked overtime at regular pay rates or violated restrictions on speed-ups—in violation of their own union contracts. AA locals agreed time and again to wage cuts, eliminating the positive wage
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After the strike was lost, the
Amalgamated charged Gompers with "lukewarmness" and Mitchell of the U.M.W. with failure to keep a promise to support steelworkers. Although Gompers and Mitchell were exonerated by a committee of the federation, the indictment made an impression. It served to focus
378:, another trust, also brought a number of nonunion plants together with unionized facilities. But this time the company refused to recognize the AA in the nonunion plants. Instead, the American Sheet Steel Co. idled its union facilities while keeping its nonunion works running at full speed.
474:
1904, the
Carnegie Company demanded significant wage cuts. The union balked and struck, but by December the strike had been broken and the union had lost almost all of its Western affiliates. U.S. Steel idled AA mills whenever possible, breaking the union through attrition.
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that Sheet Steel executives had provoked a strike with stridently anti-union actions, demanded a compromise. Subsequently, Sheet Steel officers agreed on July 13, 1901 to recognize the union at 18 of the company's 23 nonunion plants. But AA president
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turn out at all. Union members in
Illinois and Pennsylvania turned out in small numbers. Unionized facilities at the National Steel and National Tube subsidiaries turned out almost to a man, but the overall effect on U.S. Steel was too weak.
350:, which culminated with a day-long gun battle on July 6 that left 12 dead and dozens wounded, led to a wave of de-unionization. From a high of more than 24,000 members in 1892, union membership had sunk to less than 8,000 by 1900.
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differential union shops had over nonunion facilities. This discouraged non-members from joining the union. U.S. Steel drove down wages so much that independent, nonunion plants had to cut salaries in order to stay competitive.
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The AA looked for growth in the tin industry, which still required skilled workers. By 1900, the union had organized 75 percent of the sheet metal mills and all but one of the tin mills in the country.
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The AA attempted to counteract the power of the trusts by amending its constitution. A clause was added which required every mill in a trust to strike if even one mill in the trust struck.
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The AA never recovered from the U.S. Steel strike. It turned strongly conservative, hoping through submissiveness and cooperation to maintain its few remaining contracts.
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374:, primary owner of the tin plate trust, agreed to recognize the AA at the nonunion plants after a token strike in 1899. The formation in March 1900 of the
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support and the calling of a national labor conference to make the strike the federation's main issue. Gompers refused.
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But the AA seriously misjudged both the economics and the technology underlying the tin industry. The formation of the
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By 1909, membership in the AA had sunk to 6,300, and the union was finished as a force in the
American labor movement.
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In March 1903, the
American Sheet Steel Co. merged with U.S. Steel, ensuring its future as a nonunion company.
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organize any plant not already unionized, and to reject any offer of affiliation from a unionized plant.
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were pouring into plants by the thousands, and shuttered works were reopening. Shaffer appealed to
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335:. However, technological advances had reduced the number of skilled workers in both industries.
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315:(the AA) to reverse its declining fortunes and organize large numbers of new members. The
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attention upon
Gompers' and Mitchell's association with industrialists in the
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Labor disputes led by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers
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trust in 1901 threatened the AA with ruin. U.S. Steel not only combined
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the existing unionized plants, was rejected by the AA executive board.
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Rev. and exp. ed. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1966.
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of skilled iron and steel workers which was deeply committed to
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Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers
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Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers
560:
Brody, 1969, pp. 62–63; Dubofsky and Dulles, p. 174.
669:6th ed. Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 1999.
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578:Dubofsky and Dulles, p. 174; Brody, 1969, p. 66.
338:In 1892, the AA had lost a bitter strike at the
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665:Dubofsky, Melvyn and Dulles, Foster Rhea.
653:Steelworkers in America: The Nonunion Era.
587:Foner, pp. 374–75; Brody, 1969, pp. 66–67.
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605:Rayback, p. 218; Brody, 1969, pp. 68–69.
569:Brody, 1969, pp. 63–66; Rayback, p. 218.
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516:. Des Moines Daily News. July 31, 1901
309:U.S. Steel recognition strike of 1901
35:U.S. Steel recognition strike of 1901
18:U.S. Steel Recognition Strike of 1901
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327:The AA had formed in 1876. It was a
709:Labor disputes in the United States
655:New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1969.
729:1900s strikes in the United States
25:
457:, Joseph G. Rayback has written,
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704:1901 labor disputes and strikes
60:Union recognition in all plants
52:August 10 – September 14, 1901
1:
681:A History of American Labor.
667:Labor in America: A History.
436:American Federation of Labor
376:American Sheet Steel Company
455:A History of American Labor
354:Forces prompting the strike
27:Attempted nationwide strike
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364:American Tin Plate Company
714:1901 in the United States
464:National Civic Federation
368:American Tinplate Company
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149:
121:
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644:Organized labour portal
614:Brody, 1969, pp. 68–69.
542:Brody, 1969, pp. 60–61.
510:"Des Moines Daily News"
385:Beginning of the crisis
344:Homestead, Pennsylvania
201:Steel strikes in the US
468:
422:
340:Carnegie Steel Company
311:was an attempt by the
293:Allegheny Technologies
225:U.S. Steel recognition
596:Rayback, pp. 222–223.
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389:The formation of the
256:Memorial Day massacre
514:newspaperarchive.com
679:Rayback, Joseph G.
551:Brody, 1969, p. 61.
533:Brody, 1969, p. 60.
491:Recognition strike
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78:Unsuccessful
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518:. Retrieved
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252:Little Steel
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117:Lead figures
399:J.P. Morgan
395:Elbert Gary
329:labor union
281:1980s–2020s
246:1930s–1970s
239:Great Steel
211:1800s–1920s
136:J.P. Morgan
132:Elbert Gary
75:Resulted in
724:U.S. Steel
698:Categories
630:References
520:2023-09-25
405:The strike
391:U.S. Steel
323:Background
274:Nationwide
268:Nationwide
262:Nationwide
106:U.S. Steel
449:Aftermath
217:Homestead
485:See also
319:failed.
69:Striking
85:Parties
65:Methods
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346:. The
317:strike
258:) 1937
156:55,000
145:Number
98:(AA);
497:Notes
57:Goals
685:ISBN
671:ISBN
657:ISBN
397:and
307:The
295:2021
289:1986
276:1959
270:1952
264:1946
241:1919
233:1909
227:1901
219:1892
49:Date
453:In
287:USX
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512:.
370:.
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254:(
193:e
186:t
179:v
20:)
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