The Great Steel Strike and its Lessons — John Shaqi
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
Whatever its general disadvantages, in some respects, at least, the
free speech fight was very good for the unions. For one thing, it served
wonderfully well to infuse the necessary hope and confidence into the
steel workers. So tremendous had been the manifestations of the Steel
Trust--its long record of victory over the trade unions, its vast wealth
and undisputed political supremacy, its enormous mills and furnaces--so
tremendous had been all these influences that they had overcome the
individual workers with a profound sense of insignificance and
helplessness, and practically destroyed all capacity for spontaneous
action. What the steel men needed to rouse them from their lethargy was
a demonstration of power from outside, a tangible sign that there was
some institution through which they could help themselves. Throughout
the campaign this consideration was borne in mind, and bands and other
spectacular methods of advertising were used to develop among the steel
workers a feeling of the greatness and power of the unions. Nor were
these methods unsuccessful. Most effective of all, however, was the free
speech fight in Pennsylvania. That gave the unions a golden opportunity
to defeat the Steel Trust so easily and spectacularly that the steel
workers couldn't help but be encouraged thereby. They simply had to cast
in their lot with a movement able to defeat so handily their autocratic
masters. And once they came in they felt the utmost confidence in their
leaders, the men they had seen jailed time and again for fighting their
battle.
In consequence of The Flying Squadron's heroic battles in the immediate
Pittsburgh district the whole campaign was put practically upon a
national basis, where it should have been at the start. Almost every
steel centre in America was being organized simultaneously. Members were
streaming into the co-operating unions by thousands. The entire steel
industry was on the move. Perhaps it may be fitting to introduce at this
point an official digest of the general report of the number of men
organized by the National Committee during the whole campaign. The
report covers the period up to January 31, 1920, but almost all of the
men were enrolled before the strike started on September 22.
GENERAL REPORT
on
250,000 members enrolled by the National Committee for
Organizing Iron and Steel Workers during the
American Federation of Labor Organizing
Campaign in the Steel Industry, from
August 1, 1918, until January
31, 1920.
_By Localities_ _By Trades_
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