It’s Been 128 Years Since the Homestead Strikes, and Amazon Has Learned Nothing.

Amazon has decided to show where they stand when it comes to their employees striking for paid leave and better working conditions. This past Monday, workers at the Staten Island Amazon Fulfillment Center, a building with over 4,000 employees, held a walkout to protest the continued operation of the facility. Chris Smalls, the walkout’s organizer, called for the building to be closed and cleaned after at least one employee tested positive for COVID-19. Smalls was fired shortly afterward, which has received massive backlash from both the public and state officials including both New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York State Attorney General Letitia James. Along with them, leaders of the AFL-CIO, the main U.S. labor federation, are calling for independent monitors to investigate the conditions within the facility.

After Smalls’s firing, a leaked memo from Amazon surfaced, exposing David Zapolsky’s, Amazon’s general counsel, true feelings regarding Smalls: “He’s not smart or articulate, and to the extent the press wants to focus on us versus him, we will be in a much stronger PR position than simply explaining for the umpteenth time how we’re trying to protect workers.” Zapolsky’s comments were made in a meeting with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos earlier this week.

As a result, America must now make another hard decision during these trying times: Do we support the workers who are putting their health on the line every day, or do we support the company that provides many essential items straight to our doorsteps? When you take a look at American labor history, these questions are nothing new and as COVID-19 runs rampant across the country, labor rights and working conditions need to be a main priority if we hope to soften the blow from the virus. In analyzing moments and events that spearheaded such crucial decisions, I believe one specific event may lend some insight on the current situation: The Homestead Labor Strike.

The Homestead Labor Strike began in July of 1892 in Homestead, Pennsylvania, and had many of the same themes that we are seeing with this Amazon situation. About one-fifth of the workers at the Homestead Steel Works, one of the major plants owned by Carnegie Steel Company, began unionizing under The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers (The AA). The AA was one of the most prominent trade unions in the country at the time of the event. This unionization of the workers came shortly after the plant’s owner, Andrew Carnegie, made changes to their demands for production, which led to worsened working conditions for almost 4,000 employees. In response to the workers joining a union, Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick, the plant’s manager, fired all of the workers and began preparations to bring in Strikebreakers— people who would work during the strike—to ensure that the plant would stay operational. Both union and non-union workers took control of the plant and the town shortly after their discharge.

The occupation of the plant forced the hand of Frick, causing him to hire a force of 300 Pinkerton Detective Agency members, a prominent private security group at the time, to help take back the plant. On the morning of July 6, the Pinkertons arrived on several large barges on the Monongahela River alongside the plant. The workers were well aware of the Pinkertons’ arrival, ensuing in a firefight that lasted for the majority of the day. After the smoke cleared, the steelworkers of Homestead stood victorious, but not without the loss of nine of their men. This victory was short-lived, though, and after receiving news of what happened, Frick worked with the town’s sheriff to call upon Pennsylvania Governor Robert Pattison to end the strike for good.

On July 12, over 8,000 militia members arrived by train. The workers surrendered shortly thereafter, and the plant began running again under militia protection. By November of 1892, Carnegie and Frick managed to break the strike, causing a crippling blow to workers’ rights.

Fast forward to 2020 and we see very similar things happening. Strikes leading to firings, production being prioritized over working conditions, and an influx of new employees to take the place of those who are not willing to conform to the demands of their employer. This unfortunate reoccurrence, primarily pertaining to essential workers, is a classic example of history repeating itself.

So now with the context of a major historical event in play, what is there to be said about the Amazon walkouts? Firstly, it’s crucial to analyze the entirety of the situation. With Homestead, Carnegie and Frick did everything in their power to turn public opinion in their favor. Echoing those efforts, Amazon has both, in the leaked memo and in their public statements, made a concerning effort to downplay the situation and cover up what the conditions are like in their distribution facilities. In times like these, it is paramount that the public is receiving the entire truth, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic worsening every day.

If Americans fall into the trap of believing the words of this mega-corporation, we will be putting the lives of both the workers and the people around them in jeopardy. However, if we overreact and force the facilities to close completely, millions might be put at risk due to the closure of the number one online shopping site. This is why we must call upon our elected officials to do a thorough and complete investigation on the conditions in these facilities. Americans must further continue to pressure both our government and Amazon to act ethically when dealing with this situation. Workers’ rights should be one of the main priorities as we deal with this pandemic. Many of the things that are happening currently within our country are ‘unprecedented’ but workers being treated unfairly by their employers is nothing new. Do not stand idly by—as we saw with the Homestead Strike, the workers lost their fight to be treated fairly, but more importantly, they were villainized by Carnegie and Frick in the eyes of the American public and the worsened working conditions were allowed to continue.

Now is the time to stand up for those who are being silenced. Now is the time to enact the power that we hold in this democracy, and now is the time to fight for workers’ rights. This situation needs to be handled properly on all levels and we as American citizens hold the ability to ensure that it happens. I am urging you to contact your local, state, and federal level officials immediately before we end up with a situation that is out of our control.

If you do not know who your representatives are, head over to house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative and enter your zip code to find out today. Make your difference, fight for your neighbors, and be safe.