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Homestead Strike
The Homestead Strike was an industrial lockout strike that descended quickly into violence in 1892. An employee of Andrew Carnegie wanted to cut laborer wages at the plant near Pittsburgh, and Carnegie approved. The workers immediately started a strike, and violence ensued. Because of the extreme violence the strikers had used, their methods were not useful and their wages were cut once it was all over. -
Newsboys' Strike
The Newsboys' strike was a youth-led campaign to change the way Hearst and Pulitzer paid the kids who would sell their newspapers. They demonstrated across New York for several days which stopped circulation of the two papers. The paper price wasn't ever lowered, but the officials now allowed the children full buybacks for the papers they didn't sell. -
Ludlow Strike/Massacre
Coal miners in the US were extremely underpaid, especially for the long, incredibly dangerous hours they worked. 1913, about 10,000 miners decided to strike. Troops and state officials had attempted to subdue them, and eventually the National Guard opened fire (still unclear as to why). 5 people died, including 11 children. The unionized association gained over 4,000 members after the event, but no new benefits were given to the workers. -
Pullman Porters Union
Pullman Porters had dealt with long work hours and incredible prejudice on the job for a long time. They were paid better than most Black employees of the time, but still were grossly underpaid when compared to other train workers. Finally, A. Phillip Randolph decided to organize the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. After over a decade of the workers refusing to do their jobs and fighting for rights, the union was finally established in 1937. -
Steel Strike
The strike took place over 116 days, more than half a million workers across the country assisted in shutting down the HUGE basic steel industry. The strike began when those in charge of the basic steel industry decided the only way they'd be able to survive the recession was if they were able to wring more work out of their laborers. They tried to change the Union legislation and the people revolted. In the end, the unionized workers won.