![]() ![]() Amalgamated had overestimated its strength, and many steelworkers refused to follow its leadership. The union's insistence upon signing all mills of a company was obviously ill-advised, since it could not be enforced. It could not, in fact, seek to organize any mills. Under the agreement, the union lost fourteen mills, but it suffered much more. The strike dragged on until September 14, 1901, when it was settled on terms disastrous to the union. ![]() On the plea of the Civic Federation Committee, Schwab extended the time, but the union would not immediately accept. The union was given twenty-four hours to accept otherwise all negotiations would be terminated. Schwab, speaking for the corporation, said that since many steel mills had been started by nonunion labor, the companies would only sign for mills which had not started up. When the union leaders rejected his arguments, the companies began to replace the strikers.Īt another meeting, Charles M. Morgan, denying hostility to unions, argued that it was not practicable for the corporation to recognize unions for unorganized mills. Schwab, and Elbert Gary, heads of the U.S. A conference of strike leaders met with J.P. The committee included Gompers, United Mine Workers President John Mitchell, and Senator Mark Hanna, President McKinley's mentor. Steel's subsidiaries.Īs the strike continued, a committee from the National Civic Federation, established for promoting the peaceful adjustment of labor disputes, intervened. When no agreement was reached, the union called a strike in three of U.S. This demand became the sticking point in negotiations. The convention of the union met that year and voted that each combine, or multiple companies, would be required to sign a union contract for all of its plants. The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, established in the 1870s, saw its position endangered with the formation of the United States Steel Corporation in 1901. One of the first challenges came from the steel industry. The early years of the century witnessed a stabilization of the labor movement, but it was also a time when some employers were determined to halt its further progress. Adolph Strasser, president of the International Cigar Makers Union, described the AFL program as a constant seeking of "more and more," a slogan frequently repeated by AFL President Samuel Gompers. While the principal reason for embarking on this venture was defensive, AFL founders believed in the improvement of wages and working conditions through trade-union action-including the strike if necessary. The AFL had come on the scene in the 1880s, created by the leaders of craft unions who sought to curb invasions of their jurisdictions by the Knights of Labor. In the same period, the number of internationals affiliated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL) rose from fifty-eight to 120. The depression of the 1890s had softened the public attitude towards organized labor. Bread lines and soup kitchens became commonplace. Armies of jobless men swarmed over the countryside and rode freight trains.
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