Steelworkers strike
The Steelworkers strike refers to significant labor actions taken by steelworkers in the United States, particularly notable during the major strike of 1959. The U.S. steel industry, which emerged post-Civil War, saw rapid growth as demand surged for steel in various sectors, yet workers faced long hours, low wages, and unsafe working conditions. In 1919, a massive strike involving over 350,000 steelworkers marked the largest labor protest in American history, helping to establish the United Steelworkers of America (USWA). Fast forward to July 1959, approximately 500,000 members of the USWA organized a strike against 28 steel companies after failed negotiations. This strike was characterized by its economic repercussions, prompting government intervention as Secretary of Labor described its impact as "severe." President Eisenhower's administration eventually sought court intervention to end the 116-day strike, which culminated in a Supreme Court ruling. The aftermath of the strike highlighted ongoing tensions between labor and management and had lasting effects on organized labor, including a shift towards nonunion companies and increased steel imports. The events surrounding the strike reflect broader themes of workers' rights, economic policy, and government involvement in labor disputes.
Steelworkers strike
The Event Labor dispute between the United Steelworkers Union (USWA) and twenty-eight American steel companies
Date July 14, 1959, to October 7, 1959
One of the longest work stoppages in U.S. history, the steelworkers strike negatively affected both organized labor and the steel industry. The response of the Eisenhower administration to the strike effectively strengthened legal justification for government strikebreaking.
The U.S. steel industry emerged after the Civil War and grew rapidly in response to demand for steel for railroads, construction, and durable goods. The industry employed increasing numbers of workers during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and brought enormous wealth to steel magnates such as Andrew Carnegie and Charles Schwab. However, rank-and-file steelworkers endured long hours for low wages under dangerous conditions and eventually organized to petition their employers for redress of grievances.
In 1919, more than 350,000 steelworkers walked off the job, initiating what was then the largest strike in American history. The strike, although limited in its success, led to the formation of the USWA, which the steel industry formally recognized in 1941. The American steel industry dramatically increased steel production during World War II and continued to fuel the national economy during the postwar economic boom. The wages of American steelworkers rose steadily during the 1940’s and 1950’s, although tensions between labor and management continued to fester within the industry.
Walkout
On July 14, 1959, after negotiations over a new labor agreement broke down, the approximately 500,000 members of the USWA went on strike against twenty-eight steel companies. The impact of the strike was apparent by August of 1959, when Secretary of Labor James Mitchell characterized its damage to the nation’s economy, which included layoffs and shortages, as “severe.” This prompted President Dwight D. Eisenhower to threaten to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, which gave the federal government the power to stop a strike that posed a threat to “national health or safety.” The striking steelworkers remained steadfast, bolstered by the support of other unions and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), which set up a strike fund to aid the workers and their families.
President Eisenhower managed to persuade both parties to resume negotiations in September, 1959, but the talks broke off again after five days. Eisenhower subsequently created a board of inquiry to explore the administration’s options for ending the strike. Ten days later, the board issued a report recommending that the administration invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, and Eisenhower immediately directed Attorney General William P. Rogers to apply for an injunction ordering the striking steelworkers to return to work. U.S. district judge Herbert Sorg granted an eighty-day injunction on October 21; the union appealed the decision, however, and the strike continued.
Organized labor criticized Eisenhower for his efforts to stop the strike; AFL-CIO president George Meany accused the president of bias toward the steel industry. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, and on October 7, upheld the injunction, putting an official end to the 116-day strike. The steel companies agreed to negotiate individually with the USWA, and the two sides were able to reach a compromise agreement within the eighty-day period.
Impact
The steelworkers strike of 1959 produced mixed results for organized labor, which had already been weakened by internal corruption, government sanctions, and anticommunist hysteria. Eisenhower’s invocation of the Taft-Hartley Act, a controversial law that he had once favored weakening, and the Supreme Court’s subsequent broadening of the meaning of “national health or safety” to include the nation’s economic health strengthened legal justification for government strikebreaking. The ill-fated strike also exerted a negative influence upon the steel industry and steelworkers by fueling an increase in steel imports (which soon surpassed U.S. exports of steel) and strengthening the presence of nonunion companies in the domestic market.
Bibliography
Hall, Christopher. Steel Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of the U.S. Steel Industry. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997. Discusses the impact of the 1959 strike on the steel industry.
Lichtenstein, Nelson. State of the Union: A Century of American Labor. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2002. Examines the strike and its aftermath in the context of American labor history.