The United States during the McKinley presidency was not a time of labor peace. The workers in manufacturing, mines and the railroads were very unhappy with their wages and living conditions. The workers found the owners of their places of employment were reducing their wages rather than receiving wage increases because of the economic conditions that existed in the 1890s. They were demanding an increase in wages and better working conditions. The workers resented the squalor that they lived in, while the owners of their businesses, such as Andrew Carnegie, were living in large mansions.

President William McKinley throughout his lifetime tried to balance the needs of the business owners and their workers. He understood the needs of the business owners and the workers because of his father owning a small business and employing workers. Living in Ohio had shaped President McKinley’s view on business and labor because of the many manufacturing facilities, railroads, and coal mines located throughout the state.

President McKinley’s introduction to the complex field of management and labor relations took place in 1876. The coal miners at the Warmington Mine in Stark County went on strike for higher wages and better working conditions. Conditions became very violent as the strikers attacked the strikebreakers who were brought in to replace the workers. Gov. Rutherford B. Hayes sent the Ohio National Guard to quell the disturbance.

William Lynch, the Stark County prosecutor who defeated McKinley for the prosecutor’s race in 1871, decided to prosecute a group of strikers for inciting violence. McKinley stepped forward to defend the strikers when they were unable to find legal counsel. McKinley throughout the trial implored the jurors to put themselves in the place of the miners on trial. He presented evidence of the miner’s poverty, poor living conditions and poor working conditions. McKinley offered evidence during the trial that 250 miners died in Ohio mine accidents every year and an additional 700 miners were injured every year in mine accidents. The arguments that McKinley made were so persuasive the jury acquitted all of the miners but one. McKinley further solidified his status with the miners by not charging them for their defense.

The acquittal helped McKinley in two ways. Labor remembered McKinley’s defense of the miners, and they were instrumental in electing McKinley to Congress in 1876. Marc Hanna was one of the owners of the mine, and he attended the trial. He was so impressed with McKinley that he became a supporter of McKinley’s political career and was instrumental in his becoming president of the United States.

McKinley’s pursuit of higher tariffs while in Congress benefited both the owners of the businesses and their employees. Higher tariffs meant that imported products were more expensive and the business owners could expand their businesses, which would mean higher profits for the owners. Expanding businesses meant more workers would be needed to be hired and more potential union members.

Later, as governor, he attempted to lessen the discord between business owners and their employees. McKinley persuaded a reluctant Republican-controlled legislature to pass an arbitration system to mediate disputes between management and labor. He recognized if the two sides could sit down and try to settle their differences, it would mean fewer strikes and fewer hard feelings when the dispute was settled. Legislation was passed that fined employers for firing workers who belonged to unions.

Gov. McKinley could be harsh toward labor unions when the situation warranted a governmental response. McKinley called out 4,000 members of the Ohio National Guard in 1894 to prevent striking coal miners from destroying private property in four Ohio counties. At the same time that the National Guard was deployed, Gov. McKinley organized relief efforts to aid suffering unemployed coal miners in the Hocking Valley.

President McKinley’s efforts to keep the peace between business owners and their employees largely was successful. There were no large violent management and labor crises that resulted in violence and killing, such as the Homestead Strike of 1892 or the Pullman Strike of 1894.

McKinley continued his good relations with labor throughout his presidency. He signed a higher tariff bill, which meant that more employees would be hired. He appointed a former labor leader as the commissioner of immigration. He supported excluding Chinese workers from entering the country. He regularly met with Samuel Gompers, head of the American Federation of Labor.

However, throughout the summer of 1901, McKinley had his largest labor crisis. The Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers went on strike against the newly formed United States Steel Trust. The goal of the strike was to organize the workers to join a union.

McKinley was under pressure from both sides. The steelworkers pressured McKinley to intervene to force the company to recognize the union; U.S. Steel owners J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie pressured him not to intervene. President McKinley did not intervene and the strike collapsed and ended on the day of his death on Sept. 14, 1901.