So...now that several midterms are over with in other class I have time to write on my blog and continue writing my paper. As I have stated in previous postings, I will be focusing on the Corporate Paternalism on Michigan's Iron Ranges. Now that I have spoken with Micalee I have formed my thesis. I will be arguing that the emergence of corporate paternalism on the Marquette Iron Range was out of labor necessity rather than charity. In 1895, three years before William Mather initiated his plan of paternalism over Cleveland-Cliffs employees, the range saw a labor strike that was larger in size than any other seen. The reason for this large scale strike was the Finnish community that was moving to Marquette during this time. They were predisposed to the idea of socialism and radical labor reform from their homeland of Finland. With this mass influx of so called "socialist extremists’", it was necessary to keep the labor force in check to the beliefs of the mining companies and their leaders. The mining companies feared the Finns because they were believed to stir up radical ideas that would rock the employer-employee relationships.
Their fear of Finnish miners can be seen in the Cleveland-Cliffs Annual Agent Report of 1913 when a mining agent stated, "Considerable trouble was experienced with these men as a large percentage of them were Finlanders. Young Finn's, as a rule, are rank Socialists. Commencing with March, when there was considerable talk of a possible strike, we started to lay off undesirable men...We still have quite a number of undesirable men and are constantly making efforts to weed them out."
The year in which this was written is crucial to my study. In this same year, Michigan's Copper Range saw a large labor strike that was orchestrated heavily by the Finn's. Though the Finn's on the Copper Range were subject to Corporate Paternalism as well, they didn't welcome it as the ones on the Marquette Range did. The Finnish on the Marquette Range were subjected to a corporate paternalism that was directed more heavily into their lives thus creating a sense of "content" among workers.
I also want to dedicate a section of my paper to the idea of race and the Finnish community. This is in direct relation to the book we are discussing in class. As I look more into this idea I will post.
I hope everyone had a great weekend and see you on Tuesday!
