The Great Steel Strike and its LessonsFoster, William Z.
History
The Great Steel Strike and its Lessons
Foster, William Z.
Steel Strike, U.S., 1919-1920; United States Steel Corporation
But all this relates merely to the shell of the plan behind Resolution
No. 29. Its breath of life was in its strategy; in the way the
organization work was to be prosecuted. The best plans are worthless
unless properly executed. The idea was to make a hurricane drive
simultaneously in all the steel centers that would catch the workers'
imagination and sweep them into the unions _en masse_ despite all
opposition, and thus to put Mr. Gary and his associates into such a
predicament that they would have to grant the just demands of their men.
It was intended that after the Chicago conference a dozen or more
general organizers should be dispatched immediately to the most
important steel centers, to bring to the steel workers the first word of
the big drive being made in their behalf, and to organize local
committees to handle the detail work of organization. In the meantime
the co-operating international unions were to recruit numbers of
organizers and to send them to join the forces already being developed
everywhere by the general organizers. They should also assemble and pay
in as quickly as possible their respective portions of the fund of at
least $250,000 to be provided for the work. The essence of the plan was
quick, energetic action.
At the end of three or four weeks, when the organizing forces were in
good shape and the workers in the mills acquainted with what was afoot,
the campaign would be opened with a rush. Great mass meetings, built up
by extensive advertising, would be held everywhere at the same time
throughout the steel industry. These were calculated to arouse hope and
enthusiasm among the workers and to bring thousands of them into the
unions, regardless of any steps the mill owners might take to prevent
it. After two or three meetings in each place, the heavy stream of men
pouring into the unions would be turned into a decisive flood by the
election of committees to formulate the grievances of the men and
present these to the employers. The war was on; the continued operation
of the steel industry was imperative; a strike was therefore out of the
question; the steel manufacturers would have been compelled to yield to
their workers, either directly or through the instrumentality of the
Government. The trade unions would have been re-established in the steel
industry, and along with them fair dealing and the beginnings of
industrial democracy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account