-
1876
Amalgamated Association, union for iron and steel workers, forms. -
1881
Carnegie put Frick in charge of the Homestead factory. -
1882 and 1889
Amalgamated Association won two big strikes against the
Carnegie Company. After 1889, the union became very powerful
and organized. They had a very strong union contract. -
February 1892
Amalgamated Association asked for a wage increase. Frick
responded with a wage decrease. -
June 29, 1892
The old contract expired without the two sides reaching an
agreement. Frick locked the workers out of the plant, using a high
fence topped with barbed wire. -
June 30, 1892
Workers decided to strike and they surrounded the plant to make
sure that no strikebreakers would enter. -
July 6,1892
After the local sheriff was unable to control the strikers, Frick hired
guards from the National Pinkerton Detective Agency to secure the factory so that strikebreakers could enter. The Pinkertons arrived by boat in the middle of the night, hoping to surround the factory unnoticed. The strikers knew they were coming. Shots were fired and people
killed on both sides.