pa1778data.pdf

U.S. STEEL DUQUESKE WORKS
HAER NO. PA-115
(Page 21)
A disproportionately low number of new recruits came from
the U.S. Steel Corporation mills in Monongahela Valley, almost
none from the Duquesne Works. The National Committee's inability
to effectively organize steelworkers in the Monongahela Valley
stemmed from two sources. First, a high level of ethnic discord
between the highly skilled native born white workforce and their
mostly unskilled foreign born counterparts fragmented the effort.
Only two percent of the native born workforce participated in the
movement since most did not want to be associated with a strike
viewed as the work of unskilled immigrant labor. Secondly, an
interlocking relationship between local political leaders and
steel company managers severely impaired the ability of union
organizers to conduct operations in the surrounding mill towns.
During the first months of the organizational drive in the winter
of 1918-19, local leaders were able to prevent the union men from
holding meetings by denying their requests for access to local
buildings. Although the National Committee was able to overcome
this obstacle by holding outdoor rallies in the spring and
summer, their efforts led to a repressive backlash against
strikers in the valley. The Pennsylvania Constabulary, at the
request of the Allegheny County Sheriff whose brother was the
general manager of U. S. steel's Farrell subsidiary of the
American Sheet and Tin Company, provided mounted police to patrol
the mill towns throughout the duration of the strike. They
clubbed men and women off the streets and dragged strikers from
their homes, jailing them on flimsy charges. Although the strike
was never completely broken in the region, U. S. Steel was able
to operate its Monongahela Valley mills at sixty percent capacity
throughout the dispute. Because the valley was the major center
of the Corporation's nationwide operations, its ability to keep
the mills open doomed the strike, which was called off in January
of 1920.
Nowhere, finally, was the interlocking relationship between
local political leaders and steel company managers more
detrimental to trade union activities than in Duquesne.
Duquesne's mayor, James Crawford, was closely connected to
management circles through his brother, Edwin, who owned the
nearby McKeesport Tin Plate Company. During the organizing phase
of the National Committee's effort, Crawford prevented union men
from establishing themselves in the city by invoking a local
ordinance requiring organizations to obtain a permit from the
mayor's office before holding public meetings. No permits were
ever granted to National Committee officials. Other ordinances
were also passed to make it illegal for able men at least
eighteen years of age to be unemployed. Later, during the first
few days of the strike, the mayor, who was also president of the
First National Bank of Duquesne, called together the city's
property owners and merchants and instructed them to accept only
cash payments for food and rent from all employees of the