Youngstown Sheet & Tube and labor relations 1916-1920

Abstract

Dissatisfaction characterized labor relations in the steel industry early in the twentieth century. The struggle for recognition by union organizers and determination by steel company owners to retain exclusive authority in business decisions relating to employees manifested itself through strike and lockouts. These often-violent encounters left management and labor determined to impose their will upon the other. Conditions in Youngstown reflected industrial nationwide norm. Youngstown Sheet & Tube was one of the dominant steel making concerns and employers in the Mahoning Valley. Decisions made by Sheet & Tube affected thousands of steel workers and their families. In an attempt to stabilize a sizeable immigrant labor pool, Sheet & Tube changed the built environment in the Valley through company housing. It also sought to improve health and living conditions through construction of a state of the art hospital and creation of welfare, social and recreational programs. The one issue company President Campbell, along with other industrial leaders would not compromise was that of recognition of unionization in their industry. The refusal to recognize the collective bargaining power of organized labor in negotiating wages, hours and working conditions contributed to two significant strikes between 1916 and 1920. The strike and riot in 1916 resulted in several deaths and major property damage. The 1919 strike was in concert with a nation-wide effort to force union recognition by the industry.