A History & Timeline of Sparrows Point, by Bill Barry
The following text is an ongoing timeline, courtesy of Bill Barry, intended for his students at CCBC.
Last revised on February 21, 2014
1887—land purchased for new mill by Pennsylvania Steel
1889—first steel poured at The Point, which specialized in steel rails
1910—Bethlehem Steel President Charles Schwab declared, "I will not be in the position of having management dictated to by labor," and brought in mounted state police to crush strikers seeking the right to form a union. There was bloodshed and one death. Killed was Hungarian steelworker Joseph Szabo. After a futile struggle of several months' duration, the workers, denied even a hall to meet in, gave up.
1916—mills bought by Bethlehem Steel
1935—first beer sold in steel cans
1936—Steelworkers Organizing Committee (SWOC) was found as a division of the United Mine Workers, with Philip Murray as the director, appointed by John L. Lewis, with David “Tuxedo Dave” McDonald as secretary-treasurer. Both Murray and McDonald were mineworkers.
March, 1937—first union contract between SWOC and US Steel, after Flint sit-down strike
August, 1939—The NLRB told the company that ERP was a company union and did not legitimately represent the workers. Bethlehem Steel should "withdraw recognition from and completely disestablish the ERP."
April 1941—Fortune magazine noted in a generally favorable article about the company that when it came to labor relations, Bethlehem Steel still had a long way to go: "In terms of the social responsibilities of modern American industry, Bethlehem's management is provincial. Socially, they are like characters in a majestic Gotterdammerung (twilight of the gods)."
September, 1941—Bethlehem Steel/Sparrows Point votes in SWOC—office over O’Connor’s Package Store at the corner of Eastern avenue and Oldham Street
May, 1942—United Steelworkers of America (USWA) created as independent union with Murray as president and McDonald as Secretary-Treasurer.
1947—opposition by unions to President Truman’s proposed national health insurance, especially from Walter Reuther of the UAW
1950—“Treaty of Detroit” --the UAW negotiates an employer-connected health insurance plan
1959—116-day strike over Section 2(b)—beginning of imports—employment of 31,000 in union
1960—aluminum cans used for orange juice concentrate
1965—beer first sold in aluminum cans; car parts made of plastic have, and should have, been prevented.
1967—Coke and Pepsi sold in aluminum cans
1969—Nuclear Corporation, changed to NUCOR in 1971, a descendent from the Reo Automobile Company founded by Ransom Olds, opened its first “mini mill” in Darlington, SC—used electric arc furnace and claimed to be the company that”rocked the industry” by using new technology —openly anti-union and refers to its workers as “teammates” and pays low wages with high production incentives. The USWA was not able to organize the NUCOR workers
1973—Experimental Negotiating Agreement (ENA) with USWA to avoid strikes
1973—Sparrows Point designated “one of the worst air and water polluters” by Council on
1974—Consent Decree resolves civil rights law suits
1975—“L” Furnace constructed, last of town of Sparrows Point is demolished
1981—first asbestosis lawsuits filed by Peter Angelos
1984-86—installation of continuous caster and Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF)
December, 1993—NAFTA signed by President Clinton
January, 1995—The world Trade Organization (WTO) founded, establishing “free trade” on industrial production, like steel—Chinese state-owned steel production increases from 100 million tons (1996) to 123 million tons (1999).
1997-2000—new Cold Mill opens, at cost of $300 million—USWA agrees to significant contract changes (crew size, job combinations, work rules) with decreased employment to 4,300 by 2000
1997—Consent Decree with EPA over pollution controls
1997—Ernest “Billy” Thompson elected District Director for USWA Region 8, first director not
September, 2001—Steve Miller, a “turnaround expert,” named CEO of Bethlehem Steel
October, 2001—Bethlehem Steel “turns around” by declaring bankruptcy—retirees’ pensions/
November, 2002—PBGC takes over pensions, underfunded by $4.3 billion—retirees’ health care owed $3 billion—14,600 retirees in Baltimore area
2000-2009—China captured all of the world’s growth in steel production. During that period, Chinese steel production increased by 346 percent, while steel production in the rest of the world decreased by 10 percent. Today, China’s total steel production is on pace to be as much as 630 million metric tons per year, accounting for more than 45 percent of global steel production.
April, 2003—International Steel Group (ISG), led by Wilbur Ross, buys the mill
October 25, 2005—Mittal Steel buys the plant for $4.5 billion, 14 times what Ross paid in 2003
2007—first phase of widening the Panama Canal, to be completed in 2015, requiring more deep water frontage in Baltimore
2008—responding to anti-trust Justice Department action, Mittal sells Sparrows Point to Severstal, a Russian steel company, for $ 810 million
2011— Severstal all its mills for $ 1.2 billion to RG Steel, owned by venture capitalist Ira Rennert—Rennert also owns a 29-room/39-bathroom house on Long Island
January, 2011—as I walked across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, I saw a plaque commemorating the use of Bethlehem Steel in constructing the bridge in 1936. At the same moment, I looked across the bay at the reconstruction of the Oakland Bay Bridge, all with
April, 2011—DOL forces rerun of USWA Local 9477 election
May 30, 2012—RG Steel declares bankruptcy, pulling $3 million/week from the local economy
Summer, 2012—did state and federal officials threaten U.S. Steel with huge pollution fines to discourage its purchase of The Point?
August 8, 2012—HILCO buys Sparrows Point for $ 72 million for scrap—end of any union
August 20, 2012—union meeting after closure of the mill
December, 2012—auction for the property, with deadline of December 21
December 13—New Cold Mill bought by Nucor for “spare parts”
December 13—County Executive Kevin Kamenetz declares “A century of steelmaking as we know it has come to an end”—creates task force for new development at The Point
2014—Discussion on coulda/woulda/shoulda
Bill Barry. www.sparrowspointsteelworkers.com --history project
_________.http://programs.wypr.org/podcast/how-baltimore%E2%80%99s-men-steel-are-
faring-year-after-hope-ended-sparrows-point radio spot
__________ Growing Up Baltimore—segment on Sparrows Point
http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/center-for-prevention-of-youth-violence/
field_reports/_audio/econ1.mp3
http://millstories.umbc.edu/ UMBC video interviews
Louis Diggs. From the Meadows to The Point
Elmer Hall. A Mill on the Point: One Hundred and Twenty-Five Years of Steelmaking at Sparrows Point, Maryland."
___________. Diary of a Mill Town
Karen Olson. Wives of Steel
Mark Reutter. Making Steel: Sparrows Point and the Rise and Ruin of American Industrial
Deborah Rudacille. Roots of Steel
Frank Whelen. “The Violent Strike of 1941.” Allentown Morning Call (September 2, 1991)
http://articles.mcall.com/1991-09-02/features/2810498_1_bethlehem-steel-labor-disputes-older-
workers
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