United States 1909

Synopsis

On 14 July 1909 unskilled and semiskilled Slavic workers staged a strike against the Pressed Steel Car Company of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, located near Pittsburgh. Strain between strikers (and their allies in the International Workers of the World or IWW) and the company (along with its replacement workers and state police forces) erupted in a riot on 22 August 1909. After six more weeks of minor skirmishes, the rioting culminated with the deaths of many people and the injury of many others. Although the steel manufacturing industry did not respond immediately to the riots with significant improvements to worker conditions, the McKees Rocks strike of 1909 is considered one of the more important incidents that eventually led to successful unionization efforts in the 1930s.

Timeline

• 1889: Flooding in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, kills thousands.
• 1893: Wall Street stock prices plummet on 5 May, precipitating a market collapse on 27 June. In the...