Thomas K. | Red Phoenix correspondent | Ohio–

“Men are persecuted, robbed, and slaughtered, and their wives are abused in a manner worse than death… all to obtain or retain positions that barely keep starvation from the door.”

Rev. Father A.F. Toner, priest at St. Mary Roman Catholic Church uin McKees Rocks.

The Pressed Steel Car Strike, also known as the McKees Rocks Strike, is an incredible event in U.S. labor history for multiple reasons. Besides resulting in a massive win for workers, the strike highlights the invaluable roles that immigrants play in the workforce. This event also provides many horrific examples of the lengths that corporations and capital interests are willing to go in order to secure its oppressive grip on the masses. We are shown what can be accomplished when discipline and strong organization are prioritized. The workers and their families had seemingly insurmountable odds placed in front of them, but by relying on each other and staying true to their principles they were able to stand firm.

On July 10, 1909 in a small town called McKees Rocks, PA, a group of workers had received their day’s wages and realized they had been paid less than what they were owed. As any worker would, they went to management to demand an explanation, but the bosses refused to meet with them. In response, the workers walked off the job, vowing not to return to work until their demands were met. Two days later the company began evictions from company housing and brought in 500 strikebreakers. 

The Pressed Steel Car facility (PSC) was locally known as the “Last Chance” or the “Slaughterhouse.” Joseph G. Armstrong, the county coroner at the time of the strike, estimated on average one worker death per day at the factory. Other rumors persisted around the facility of unidentified immigrant workers buried on the property.

This site was one of the highest-producing train car production lines in the country at the time of the strike. The workers were tasked with doing quick and discrete work on these rail cars as they were pulled down the rail line. The factory was furnished with a machine shop, a foundry, and multiple high capacity electric cranes. By modern standards this would be a highly dangerous work area.

Workers were organized not only by language but also by religion; the company did this in order to minimize “petty quarreling” on the assembly line. At the time of the strike, 6,000 immigrant workers were employed by the PSC factory.

During the strike, the workers would meet almost every day at what they referred to as “The Indian Mound,” where they would hold meetings and give speeches in 15 different languages. These meetings quickly turned into highly-attended worker rallies.

The strike reached its boiling point on Aug. 22, when the actions were charged after what police forces aiding in company housing evictions had done the day before.

On Aug. 21 in the nearby company town of Schoenville, while evicting a family from company housing, a police officer placed a baby in a basket on top of a wagon containing the family’s possessions. This photograph was printed in the local newspaper that same day. On Aug. 22 in McKees Rocks during a worker-organized protest, an officer from the Schoenville photograph was spotted in the crowd in civilian clothing. A confrontation led to the death of the officer and sparked a violent clash between the workers and the Pennsylvania State Police. (The workers at the factory referred to them as “Black Cossacks.”) The conflict between mounted officers and workers led to the deaths of at least three workers but an official number is still debated.

Though this is what is considered to be the climax of the conflict, it is important to note that the workers on strike at this facility were already fighting almost daily. Between conflicts with scabs and company thugs, they were now introduced to the state police force. After the events of Aug. 22 martial law was enacted.

Through their struggle and unwillingness to break, on Sep. 8, 1909 the workers forced their bosses to capitulate. Management ended the unfair pay practices that ignited the strike, and the workers gained an immediate 5% pay increase with another 10% in 60 days. They also forced the inhumane housing practices of the Pressed Steel Car Company to cease. Other results of the strike included better working conditions, which created room for one thousand more employees to be hired — a powerful example of how supporting workers through community leads to changes for all. 

“This desperate fight must be continued. The eyes of the civilized world and the eyes of all the laborers of the world are upon you. It is the greatest labor fight in all history.” – Eugene Debs 

Eugene Debs, “You Are of One Class:
Speech to Pressed Steel Car Company Strikers,”
McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, Aug. 24, 1909

Eugene Debs saw this labor struggle as the beginning of industrial unionization. We know from history that the Pressed Steel Car Strike had a major impact on the labor movement in the area, and created opportunities by providing a public win for young budding American unions.

Though working and community conditions were greatly improved, the lack of central organization and ultimately the lack of a union contract led to issues shortly after returning to work. Second-generation American skilled workers, who had lost their class consciousness, harassed immigrant workers and created racial tension inside the shop. A United Steelworkers contract was signed in 1942 forming USW Local 2746. 

The McKees Rocks Strike holds serious relevance to us today. Tactics used against strikers now can be seen in their infancy in 1909 — most glaringly is capitalists’ manipulation of immigrants in the workplace as a means of dividing the working people. Corporations would still have us believe that our struggles are separate and disconnected, but we should not be fooled. We must recognize the strengths that each of us provide as workers, through our different cultures, creeds, and general backgrounds. This was a necessity to be understood in 1909 and it is a necessity to understand today.

We can also learn from McKees Rocks the importance of central organization. Throughout the strike the “Indian Mound” was used as a central location for all striking workers to gather to inform and educate each other. Thus they were able to organize more effectively and protect themselves from the influence of company spies. These lessons and many more provided by the brave working families of McKees Rocks should be analyzed and acknowledged, for their struggle is our struggle now. 

Categories: History, Labor, U.S. News, United States History