{"id":5145,"date":"2024-06-03T11:12:40","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T15:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=5145"},"modified":"2024-06-03T11:48:56","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T15:48:56","slug":"labor-history-a-look-back-at-the-formation-of-usw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-5\/labor-history-a-look-back-at-the-formation-of-usw\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor History: A look back at the formation of USW"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"USW
Images via usw.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 10, 2024 —<\/em> Many of the biggest unions in the United States were formed when the needs of the American workforce were greatest. The Communication Workers of America (CWA), for example, was formed after a strike at AT&T in 1923 failed to yield results and ultimately caused telephone operators at the company to disband their department.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"USWThe story behind the formation of the United Steel Workers of America (USW) is not too different.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

USW is a combination of two unions \u2014\u00a0 the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers (AA) and the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

AA was formed in August 1876. However, the turning point for the union happened when Andrew Carnegie placed notorious anti-unionist Henry Clay Frick in charge of the company\u2019s operation in 1881. As the union\u2019s contract was set to expire in 1892, Frick demanded a 22% decrease in wages from the union and locked the workers out of the steel mill on June 29, a day before the contract\u2019s expiration.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Workers picketed and blocked the mill\u2019s entrance in response, and Frick used law enforcement and the Pinkerton Detective Agency to break it up. Eventually the clashes became violent and AA members voted to return to work in November 1892.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The union then saw its membership decline over the next four decades. During that time, the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) \u2014 which would eventually merge to become the AFL-CIO \u2014 sought to unify steel workers and connected with AA to set up the SWOC in June 1936. The SWOC organized workers at several mills over the years, including the Bethlehem Steel mill in New York.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, after a convention held in Cleveland on May 22, 1942, the AA and SWOC disbanded and reformed as a new organization \u2014 the United Steel Workers of America.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, USW represents steel workers across the U.S. and in Canada. Division 4 is home to local chapters in the Northeast \u2014including New York \u2014\u00a0 and Puerto Rico.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

USW has also grown its membership to include more than just steel workers, including the New York State Nurses Association, and of course, staff working at PEF and PEF Membership Benefits.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, USW\u2019s biggest fight is against the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel by the Japanese-owned Nippon Steel. USW International President David McCall believes it would harm both workers and the nation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

June 10, 2024 — Many of the biggest unions in the United States were formed when the needs of the American workforce were greatest. 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