The Homestead Steel Lockout of 1892 was an attempt by Andrew Carnegie's management to break the union and cut pay by locking out workers.
Claims
The Homestead Steel Lockout of 1892 was an attempt by Andrew Carnegie's management to break the union and cut pay by locking out workers.
Parent: Labor HistoryEntity: Homestead Steel LockoutImpact: negativeDate: Jun 29, 2026 - Jun 30, 2026Target: The Homestead Steel Lockout of 1892 was an attempt by Andrew Carnegie's management to break the union and cut pay by locking out workers.
Source posts
On this day, 29 June 1892,
workers at the Carnegie steel plant in Homestead Pennsylvania were locked out
after workers refused to accept new production demands.
Andrew Carnegie was determined to break the Amalgamated Association of Iron Steel Workers,
in which skilled workers at the plant were organised.
His plant manager, Henry Clay Frick, locked out the union workers,
then sacked them on 2 July.
The non-union, so-called "unskilled" workers then walked out on strike in protest.
Frick brought in 300 armed Pinkerton detectives to break the strike.
They did kill nine strikers,
but eventually a crowd of 10,000 workers, many of them armed,
repelled the attack.
The workers held out until November, when the governor brought in 8,000 militia to escort strikebreakers into the plant.
The dispute basically destroyed the Amalgamated Association,
and enabled Carnegie to implement pay cuts and longer working hours.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10109/homestead-steel-lockout
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/29-june-1892-homestead-strike--72310212
8 boosts · 5 favs · 1 replies · Jun 30, 2026
#OtD 29 Jun 1892 union workers at the Homestead Carnegie steel plant in Pennsylvania were locked out to break the union and cut pay. Non-union workers went on strike, but after armed battles, state militia eventually broke the strike in November https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10109/homestead-steel-lockout
6 boosts · 0 favs · 0 replies · Jun 29, 2026
#otd