William Z. Foster. The Library of Congress.

United States 1919-1920

Synopsis

The National Committee for Organizing Iron and Steel Workers, led by John Fitzpatrick of the Chicago Federation of Labor and a former Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) organizer named William Z. Foster, began a campaign to unionize American steelworkers during World War I. Taking advantage of a wartime labor shortage, the campaign signed up thousands of mostly less skilled workers. When the war ended, Fitzpatrick and Foster demanded a hearing with Elbert Gary, chairman of the United States Steel Corporation and the informal leader of the industry. When Gary refused to meet with them, pressure from the rank and file forced a strike.

The strike began on 22 September 1919. The two main issues were union recognition and shorter working hours. (Many steelworkers still worked a 10-or 12-hour day at this time.) Approximately 250,000 steel...