A short history of Pittsburgh : 1758-1908

by Samuel Harden Church

The lesson was worth all it cost, and anarchy has never dared to raise its head in the corporation limits since that time.

XVII

The Homestead strike and riot of 1892 is another incident of false leadership in industrial life which must be chronicled here.

For many years the Carnegie Steel Company, whose principal works were situated at Homestead, just outside the present boundaries of the city, had employed a large number of skilled workmen who belonged to the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, and had contracted for their employment with the officers of that Association. On July 1, 1889, a three years' contract was made which was to terminate at the end of June, 1892. The workmen were paid by the ton, the amount they received depending on the selling price of steel billets of a specified size which they produced. If the price of these billets advanced, the wages they received per ton advanced proportionately. If the price declined, their wages also declined to a certain point, called a minimum, but a decline in the selling price below this minimum caused no reduction in wages. The minimum was fixed in the contract at $25.00 per ton. At the date the contract was made the market price of the billets was $26.50 per ton.

As the time drew near for the contract to expire, the Carnegie Company, through its chairman, Mr. Henry C. Frick, submitted to the workmen belonging to the Association a proposition as the basis of a new contract. The three most important features of the proposed contract were, first, a reduction in the minimum of the scale for billets from $25.00 to $22.00; second, a change in the expiration of the date of the scale from June 30th to December 31st; third, a reduction of tonnage rates at those furnaces and mills in which, by reason of the introduction of improved machinery, the earnings of the workmen had been increased far beyond the liberal calculation of their employers. At those places where no such improvements had been made, no reduction in tonnage rates was proposed. The company gave as a reason for reducing the minimum that the market price of steel had gone down below $25.00 per ton, and that it was unfair for the workmen to have the benefits of a rise in the market above $25.00, and share none of the losses of the company when the market price fell below that figure. Indeed, the company contended that there ought to be no minimum as there was no maximum under the sliding scale. The workmen insisted that there ought to be a minimum to protect them against unfair dealing between the company and its buyers, as they had no voice or authority in selling the products of their labor.

The reason for changing the time for closing the contract was that the company's business was less active at the end of the calendar year than in midsummer, and that it was easier to complete new arrangements for employment at that time. Another reason was that the company often made sales for an entire year, and consequently contracts for labor could be more safely made if they began and ended at times corresponding with contracts made with their customers. The workmen opposed this change in the duration of the contract on the ground that in midwinter they would be less able to resist any disposition on the part of the company to cut down their wages, and that in the event of a strike, it would be more difficult to maintain their situation than it would be in summer. They claimed, therefore, that the change in time would be a serious disadvantage to them in negotiating with their employers. They proposed to the company, as a counter proposition, that the contract should end the last of June, as had formerly been the case, and that if any change was to be demanded, three months' notice must be given them, and that, if this was not done, the contract, which was to run for three years, should continue for a year longer; in other words, from June 30, 1895, until June 30, 1896. This suggestion was rejected by the company. But the company then proposed to make the minimum $23.00 per ton for steel billets, and the Association, through its committee, named a price of $24.00, refusing to concede any more.

While these negotiations were pending, the superintendent of the Homestead Steel Works had concluded contracts with all the employees, except three hundred and twenty-five of the highest skill, who were employed in three of the twelve departments. All the others were to be paid on the former basis of remuneration without any reduction whatever. Of the three hundred and twenty-five high-priced men with whom contracts had not been made, two hundred and eighty would have been affected by the tonnage reductions and about forty-five more by the tonnage reductions and scale minimum.

Under the proposed readjustments those who received the low grades of compensation and the common laborers would not have been touched in their earnings. The actual controversy was thus narrowed down to a small number of men, less than ten per cent. of those employed at Homestead.

During the remainder of the month of June other steps were taken to effect an agreement, but the relations between the officers of the company and the workmen, instead of improving, grew worse. On the 28th the company began to close the different departments, and on the last day of the month work in all of them ceased. On July 1st the striking workmen congregated about the gates, stopped the foremen and employees who came to work, and persuaded them to go away. The watchmen of the company were turned away from the works; guards were placed at all the entrances, the river, streets and roads entering the town were patrolled by strikers, and a rigid surveillance was exercised over those who entered the town or approached the plant. When the sheriff came on July 4th and attempted to put deputies of his own selection in possession of the works, to guard them for the company, he was opposed by a counter force, the striking workmen proposing to place guards of their own and give indemnity for the safety of the property; but this the sheriff declined because it would enable the strikers to keep any new non-union men from taking their places. On July 5th, when the sheriff sent twelve deputies to take possession of the works, they were driven away.

In the meantime Mr. Frick had begun negotiations as early as June 20th with Robert A. Pinkerton, of New York, for the employment of three hundred watchmen to be placed in the works at Homestead. They were brought from Ashtabula to Youngstown by rail, thence to Pittsburgh by river. On the evening of July 5th, Captain Rodgers' two boats, with Deputy Sheriff Gray, Superintendent Potter, of the Homestead works, and some of his assistants, on board, dropped down the river with two barges in tow, until they met the Pinkerton men. When the boat, with the barges in tow, approached Homestead in the early morning of the 6th, they were discovered by a small steamer used by the strikers as a patrol, and the alarm was given. A short war of words was followed by firing on each side, which resulted ultimately in the death of three of the Pinkertons and seven of the workmen, and the wounding of many on each side. After a brief fusillade those on shore fled in various directions, and the Pinkerton men retreated into their barges. About five o'clock in the afternoon the Pinkertons surrendered, being allowed to take out their clothing, but their arms and supplies fell into the possession of the Homestead people. The barges were immediately set on fire and burned, and in their burning the pump-house belonging to the Carnegie Company was also destroyed. The Pinkerton men, now being practically prisoners of war, were marched up-town to the skating-rink for temporary imprisonment. The sheriff was notified, and he came down that night and took the prisoners away. He then informed the governor of Pennsylvania of what had occurred, and called upon him for troops to enforce the law and restore public order. Governor Pattison made a prompt response to this appeal, as his duty under the law required him to do. On the morning of the 12th the soldiers of the State militia entered Homestead. As soon as they arrived the Carnegie Company took possession of its works, and began to make preparations to resume work with non-union men. It was difficult to secure employees, and several months passed away before the company was able to obtain all the men it desired. At first the new employees were fed and housed within the enclosure, and this plan continued for several weeks until their number had increased to such a degree that they felt secure in going outside for their meals with the protection afforded by the sheriff's deputies.