Students in Associate Professor of Business Kent Tonkin’s Labor and Management Relations course visited sites in Pittsburgh from the steel era of yesteryear on Oct. 23.
The group visited the abandoned Carrie Blast Furnace, as well as the site of the Homestead Riot of 1892. Both sites are historic spots in the American Labor Movement.
In 1892, the Carnegie Steel Company in Homestead, Pennsylvania, fired workers who were union members. A confrontation between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and security guards followed.
Sixteen people were killed in the confrontation and many more were injured. A labor strike followed the riot and lasted more than four months.
The tour was conducted by Steffi Domike, a former employee of U.S. Steel and a member of the United Steelworkers Union.
“A lot of people don’t realize the industrial heritage of this region and just how much of our labor law – and our history of labor – was happening where we stand right now,” said Tonkin.
The trip gave the students an opportunity to explore the working conditions of 19th and 20th century steelworkers, the roots of the labor movement and modern labor law.
“It was so interesting to see the way nature has kind of overtaken the entire site,” said junior Management major Mae Schmidt, “as well as how certain pieces were turned into art.”
Tonkin appreciated the information that Domike shared with his students.
“She’s a wealth of knowledge,” said Tonkin. “It’s important for students to understand that these dangerous working conditions happened within their parents’ lifetime.”
