One cause of the Homestead Strike was the company manager, Henry Clay Frick, attempting to impose a wage cut on the workers. This action by Frick led to the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers refusing his terms and calling for a strike.
One effect of the Homestead strike was the armed clash between the workers and the Pinkerton detectives brought in by Frick. This clash resulted in several deaths and heightened tensions between the company and the workers. Another effect was the intervention of the state militia, who protected nonunion laborers and allowed them to continue working in the steel mills. This ultimately led to the collapse of the strike and weakened unionism in the steel industry.
The first and bloodiest of a series of industrial strikes in the 1890s, the Homestead Strike took place at the Carnegie Steel Company plant in Homestead, Pa., in 1892. It was precipitated when company manager Henry Clay Frick sought to impose a wage cut. When the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers refused his terms and called a strike on June 29, Frick brought in about 300 Pinkerton detectives to run the plant. On July 6 an armed clash occurred between workers and detectives, in which several were killed, soon afterward, the state militia was sent in. Under the soldiers' protection, nonunion laborers manned the steel mills from July 12 to November 20, when the strike collapsed. Frick's success gravely weakened unionism in the steel industry, which was not unionized successfully until the 1930s.
Krause, P. The Battle for Homestead, 1880-1892 (1992).
Describe at least one cause and one effect of the Homestead Strike:
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