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Secretos de Mis Abuelos
Steel Industry Timeline
1872: Steel production begins when the Edgar Thomson Steel Works was established in the city. The enormous use of coal led to environmental problems, marking the start of a polluted era in Pittsburgh history. It was one of the first plants designed with Bessemer converters specifically to make rails—a single-purpose plant. In its first year of production, the plant was profitable and was the lowest-cost rail producer in the nation.
1876: The Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers Union is founded in Pittsburgh. AAISTW was an early steelworkers labor organization, which represented primarily English-speaking, white skilled workers. By the early 1890s it had about 24,000 workers.
1877: The region's fourteen medium-scale crucible steel factories produce nearly three-fourths of the nation's output.
1886: Duquesne Steel Works is established. It is acquired by Andrew Carnegie in 1890, then by U.S. Steel in 1901. Workers here implemented advances in rolling mill and blast furnace processes before 1914; in pollution control, 1953. At peak of operation they
manned six blast furnaces.
1889: The Mellons finance Alcoa—for over 100 years the largest aluminum company in the world.
1892: The Homestead Steel Strike takes place, one of the most prolonged and bitter clashes in American labor history. Led by the AAISTW, strikers and their supports prevented 300 Pinkerton agents operating as professional strikers to gain control of the Carnegie Steel Company in July. Seven workers and three Pinkertons were killed in the ensuing struggle. The strike ended in November without the workers achieving their objectives.
1894: The Union Railroad is founded, which is still in operation serving area steel mills.
1895: The 13-story Carnegie Building rises on Fifth Avenue, the first steel-framed tower built in the city.
1901: J.P. Morgan consolidates the steel industry with Carnegie and seven other major companies into the giant U.S. Steel Company with a capitalization of $1.4 billion—the largest private company in the world. It controlled 60 percent of U.S. steel production, with more than 40 percent coming from the Carnegie properties. Pittsburgh loses out to New York in the bid to host its headquarters.
1903: Labor organizer Mary Harris “Mother” Jones led child workers in demanding a fifty-five-hour workweek. Born in Ireland, Jones was an organizer and inspiring presence in the U.S. coal, steel, and textile labor movements.
1909: McKees Rocks Steel Strike. Unskilled southern and eastern European immigrant workers led a strike against the Pressed Steel Car Company in July in the city of McKees Rocks. State police killed eleven of the strikers in street battle in August. The Industrial Workers of the World aided the strikers.
1916: Electrical workers from the Westinghouse plants in the Turtle Creek Valley, southeast of Pittsburgh, marched on the Edgar Thompson steel works, where two workers were killed by company guards.
1919: The Great Steel Strike began on September 22. At least 350,000 steel workers went on strike for union recognition. The AFL Iron and Steel Organizing Committee called off the strike on January 8, 1920. Strikers did not realize their objectives.
1920s: Pittsburgh produces around one third of the national output of steel.
1933: Frances Perkins, U.S. Secretary of Labor, visits Homestead in July to discuss New Deal policy. Local authorities barred her from meeting with aggrieved steelworkers in nearby Frick Park. Undeterred, she moved the assembly to federal property at the former U.S. post office.
1935: Due to the reforms of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, steel unions gain success in Pittsburgh. The Wagner Act gives employees rights to self-organize in labor unions and made it unlawful for employers to prevent or interfere with such unions.
1936: Steel Workers Organizing Committee forms in Pittsburgh. SWOC joined with the AAISTW to organize the steel industry. In 1942, the organization renamed itself the United Steel Workers of America. The USWA became one of the world’s largest unions, embracing over a million workers.
1937: US Steel recognizes SWOC as the official bargaining agent of its steel workers.
1946: The largest strike wave in American history breaks out as pent-up worker demands are unleashed by the end of wartime controls. Successful job actions in steel, electrical, and auto won substantial wage increases, which fueled post-war prosperity for blue-collar workers and their families.
1949: A strike achieved the first pension plan for steel workers.
1952: After steel manufacturers rejected the Wage Stabilization Board’s recommendations, President Truman ordered the U.S. Army to seize steel mills to avert a strike. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the order illegal. Steel workers went on strike for eight weeks in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
1970s: The steel industry begins to decline drastically. This was catastrophic to the Pittsburgh economy.
1978: U.S. Steel announces the closing of 16 facilities, and the loss of 13,000 jobs. Pittsburgh steelworkers join Youngstown Ohio steelworkers in two hour occupation of U.S. Steel’s Pittsburgh headquarters.
1980s: The steel industry collapses, leaving half of the nation's steelworkers unemployed. Economic pressures began to settle on the city and families struggled to provide an income for themselves.
1982: USWA accepts concession contract in effort to save jobs in the steel industry. Later in the year, U.S. Steel announces the closing of 28 facilities affecting 15,000 workers.
1986: Formation of the Steel Valley Authority, which united eight communities including the cities of Pittsburgh and McKeesport in job retention and development. Shutdown of historic U.S. Steel Homestead mill, and Westinghouse Electric East Pittsburgh plant. USWA strike against U.S. Steel lasted six months and gained a continuous caster for the Edgar Thompson mill in Braddock.
1876: The Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers Union is founded in Pittsburgh. AAISTW was an early steelworkers labor organization, which represented primarily English-speaking, white skilled workers. By the early 1890s it had about 24,000 workers.
1877: The region's fourteen medium-scale crucible steel factories produce nearly three-fourths of the nation's output.
1886: Duquesne Steel Works is established. It is acquired by Andrew Carnegie in 1890, then by U.S. Steel in 1901. Workers here implemented advances in rolling mill and blast furnace processes before 1914; in pollution control, 1953. At peak of operation they
manned six blast furnaces.
1889: The Mellons finance Alcoa—for over 100 years the largest aluminum company in the world.
1892: The Homestead Steel Strike takes place, one of the most prolonged and bitter clashes in American labor history. Led by the AAISTW, strikers and their supports prevented 300 Pinkerton agents operating as professional strikers to gain control of the Carnegie Steel Company in July. Seven workers and three Pinkertons were killed in the ensuing struggle. The strike ended in November without the workers achieving their objectives.
1894: The Union Railroad is founded, which is still in operation serving area steel mills.
1895: The 13-story Carnegie Building rises on Fifth Avenue, the first steel-framed tower built in the city.
1901: J.P. Morgan consolidates the steel industry with Carnegie and seven other major companies into the giant U.S. Steel Company with a capitalization of $1.4 billion—the largest private company in the world. It controlled 60 percent of U.S. steel production, with more than 40 percent coming from the Carnegie properties. Pittsburgh loses out to New York in the bid to host its headquarters.
1903: Labor organizer Mary Harris “Mother” Jones led child workers in demanding a fifty-five-hour workweek. Born in Ireland, Jones was an organizer and inspiring presence in the U.S. coal, steel, and textile labor movements.
1909: McKees Rocks Steel Strike. Unskilled southern and eastern European immigrant workers led a strike against the Pressed Steel Car Company in July in the city of McKees Rocks. State police killed eleven of the strikers in street battle in August. The Industrial Workers of the World aided the strikers.
1916: Electrical workers from the Westinghouse plants in the Turtle Creek Valley, southeast of Pittsburgh, marched on the Edgar Thompson steel works, where two workers were killed by company guards.
1919: The Great Steel Strike began on September 22. At least 350,000 steel workers went on strike for union recognition. The AFL Iron and Steel Organizing Committee called off the strike on January 8, 1920. Strikers did not realize their objectives.
1920s: Pittsburgh produces around one third of the national output of steel.
1933: Frances Perkins, U.S. Secretary of Labor, visits Homestead in July to discuss New Deal policy. Local authorities barred her from meeting with aggrieved steelworkers in nearby Frick Park. Undeterred, she moved the assembly to federal property at the former U.S. post office.
1935: Due to the reforms of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, steel unions gain success in Pittsburgh. The Wagner Act gives employees rights to self-organize in labor unions and made it unlawful for employers to prevent or interfere with such unions.
1936: Steel Workers Organizing Committee forms in Pittsburgh. SWOC joined with the AAISTW to organize the steel industry. In 1942, the organization renamed itself the United Steel Workers of America. The USWA became one of the world’s largest unions, embracing over a million workers.
1937: US Steel recognizes SWOC as the official bargaining agent of its steel workers.
1946: The largest strike wave in American history breaks out as pent-up worker demands are unleashed by the end of wartime controls. Successful job actions in steel, electrical, and auto won substantial wage increases, which fueled post-war prosperity for blue-collar workers and their families.
1949: A strike achieved the first pension plan for steel workers.
1952: After steel manufacturers rejected the Wage Stabilization Board’s recommendations, President Truman ordered the U.S. Army to seize steel mills to avert a strike. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the order illegal. Steel workers went on strike for eight weeks in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
1970s: The steel industry begins to decline drastically. This was catastrophic to the Pittsburgh economy.
1978: U.S. Steel announces the closing of 16 facilities, and the loss of 13,000 jobs. Pittsburgh steelworkers join Youngstown Ohio steelworkers in two hour occupation of U.S. Steel’s Pittsburgh headquarters.
1980s: The steel industry collapses, leaving half of the nation's steelworkers unemployed. Economic pressures began to settle on the city and families struggled to provide an income for themselves.
1982: USWA accepts concession contract in effort to save jobs in the steel industry. Later in the year, U.S. Steel announces the closing of 28 facilities affecting 15,000 workers.
1986: Formation of the Steel Valley Authority, which united eight communities including the cities of Pittsburgh and McKeesport in job retention and development. Shutdown of historic U.S. Steel Homestead mill, and Westinghouse Electric East Pittsburgh plant. USWA strike against U.S. Steel lasted six months and gained a continuous caster for the Edgar Thompson mill in Braddock.
Injuries Due to the Steel Industry
Black workers’ jobs exposed them to disproportionate levels of heat, deadly fumes, and disabling and serious injuries. In 1919, blacks made up 4.6 percent of the state’s iron, steel, and manufacturing employees, but registered 8.5 percent of all victims of accidents. (Race and Renaissance, Trotter)
