Big Gray Ugly
The Homestead Steel Works early 1900's Homestead, PAA Steel Workers Tale
This poem is dedicated to the men and women that I worked along side of at US Steel's Homestead Works, Homestead, PA. For 10 years I walked through The Hole In The Wall Gate in that dirty old mill that I came to love and respect. You had to respect her; cause if you didn't you might have gotten injured or even died. I worked along side of Old Timers that had plenty of stories to spin, of fighting for the Union or when there was no Union at all. I worked along side of Summer Rookies that had PHD's after their names; Cause Daddy was a big shot down town and wanted his kid to get a taste of Sweat and Steel. When they closed The Big Gray Ugly, many people lost everything they owned. We became a statistics on unemployment lists, Foreclosure lists, Suicide Lists. Families disintegrated. People left town to find work, as The Steel Valley became The Rust Bowl. This poem is a tale of those times.
by Arthur Wolfe
The Big Gray Ugly
Down and dirty
Stands empty, quiet
and alone
It's buildings melting into the ground
as they turn to rust
The ones still standing that is
While others are striped
from the inside out
by the some of the same folk
who worked in them
they packed the machinery
loaded it on barges to send down river
to some non-union town or country
It was proud folks who worked there
that poured the iron and made the steel
before the fire went out
The big gray ugly
was once the pride of Homestead
Pride of the Valley
Pride of the industry
In the early days
many men and even boys
gave their lives
every time a heat was tapped
making steel was very dangerous
Even more so at 25 cents an hour
The company owned the town
The streets, the stores,
company houses, company food
It all came out those
proud folks pockets
If you were lucky and got picked
to work in the shape up
It probably meant that the foreman
was sleeping with your wife
or girlfriend
but she wouldn't tell ya
cause she was happy that you made
$4 for a 16 hour day
and you made it home safe and sound
The Big Gray Ugly
Withstood it all
Through the strike of 1892
Pinkertons, Frick,
Carnegie with his library on the hill
Making steel for armor, tanks, shells
Battleships and Carriers
WWI, WWII, Korea, Nam
Pumping Iron, Making Steel
Empire State and US Steel Buildings
Locks for the Panama Canal
The Brooklyn and Verrazanno bridges
You name it
all that steel came from
The Big Ugly
The Union made its mark with blood and guts
You folks who never worked The Big Gray Ugly
could never understand
that 25 cents an hour as you put
your life on the line every day
was not worth it if something bad happened
like loss of limb or even life
That the nice foreman who slept with
your wife
Wouldn't take care of her or your kids
It was a hot summer day in 1972
That I first walked through
The Hole In The Wall Gate
Wearing my new hard toed shoes
and orange rookie hard hat
The Wandering Hippie Pagan
Meets the Big Gray Ugly
And I felt I had something to prove
After all (I was questioned every day)
What's a nice Pagan kid like you
doing in a hellhole like this?
Digging ditches, Spiking Rails
Just like you!
Track Gang, one step above the Labor Gang
I knew I had something to prove
and then one day I found my niche
They put a torch in my hands
as I cut all the rails
for the central wharf
I felt the history of the Big Gray Ugly
surge through my hands
As I saw the fire of ancient mill workers
pass through my eyes
The spark was lit
Back in 72 we had a company union
that took our dues
and never fought our fights for us
but soon we got together
with folks like
Michelle (Who published the Locals Newspaper)
and took back our union
Gave warning to the Company and the USWA
That Local 1397 was now Rank and File
And as the years went on
And I moved up
now a Forge Craneman
the fire stared to fade
the company's plan became very clear
to one and all
Stockpile, Layoff call em back and then lay em off again
Till the fire became very dim
Man we tried to save our jobs
To save our History
To save our Valley
To Save our Homes
and Families
But US Steal held all the cards
and our history didn't mean shit to them!
after all Mr. Rodrick said
"We're in business to make money"
so on one cold Thanksgiving Day
our sister plant in Youngstown
closed down with out a warning
as most of its workers
got the news on their car radios
while driving to work that day
All the Rank and File locals
pulled together
stormed the US Steal Building
(that was made with our blood)
Protested in DC
But Big Business Bucks Buy Votes
As congress became blind to our pain
It took two years to get
a plant closing bill through
and after all that it was only
a 60 days warning notification
60 days to watch your life go down the tubes
The next Thanksgiving found
the locals unemployed committee
at the mill gates begging money
from those who still worked
so we could have food
on our plates and our kids
have full tummies
But ones days money was not enough
more people kept getting laid off
So we had us a big rock concert
with local bands
G-Force
Iron City House Rockers
Billy Price and the Keystone Rhythm Band
Rare Experience
Made 15g and opened a food bank
Kept it going with more benefits
Bruce Springsteen came to town
helped out a whole lot
But food banks are Band-Aids
and the real banks became
land grabbers as they scarfed
up our houses because of back taxes
and overdue mortgages
MONEY GRABBERS!!
We all pulled together
The Local Unions
Homestead Unemployed Committee
Mon-Valley Unemployed Committee
Tri-State Conference on Steel
We protested, we picketed
We Lobbied, We Tried
and then one day I shall call
the beginning of the end
Came a group of misguided Ministers
who called themselves DMS
who told the union worker
that churches founded the 1st unions
(can you believe that shit?)
and they were there to help
So they misled some of us
and twisted the rest
If your not for us
your against us was their cry
and soon we were split
as the good we were doing
became undone
by their raids on Rich Churches
and Skunk Oil in Banks
as well as little rich kids at parties
We all screamed with rage
as this stuff got the front page
and the company ate it all up
Saying
See, we told you their all
Lazy, Radical Bums, we know what we are doing
After all they made too much money
That's why we are opening new mills
in Mexico and paying the workers
1.25 a day as well as closing
13 mills and using the tax break
to buy Marathon Oil
I was on the HighLevel Bridge
That goes across the Mon River
and over The Big Gray Ugly
the night the fire went out
in Open Hearth 5 (OH5)
I had just gotten back
from Youngstown
A Memorial Service
for a fallen brother that day
So I stood there with tears
in my eyes as I thought
of the history and lives
of the ancient mill workers
of the ones who came after
and the kids yet unborn
would never have a chance
to work in The Big Ugly
It was two years later
as I stood on that same spot
Ready to jump, burned out from exhaustion,
depressed by the sight
The Big Ugly was gone
I knew I had done my best to save her
Down and dirty
Stands empty, quiet
and alone
It's buildings melting into the ground
as they turn to rust
The ones still standing that is
While others are striped
from the inside out
by the some of the same folk
who worked in them
they packed the machinery
loaded it on barges to send down river
to some non-union town or country
It was proud folks who worked there
that poured the iron and made the steel
before the fire went out
The big gray ugly
was once the pride of Homestead
Pride of the Valley
Pride of the industry
In the early days
many men and even boys
gave their lives
every time a heat was tapped
making steel was very dangerous
Even more so at 25 cents an hour
The company owned the town
The streets, the stores,
company houses, company food
It all came out those
proud folks pockets
If you were lucky and got picked
to work in the shape up
It probably meant that the foreman
was sleeping with your wife
or girlfriend
but she wouldn't tell ya
cause she was happy that you made
$4 for a 16 hour day
and you made it home safe and sound
The Big Gray Ugly
Withstood it all
Through the strike of 1892
Pinkertons, Frick,
Carnegie with his library on the hill
Making steel for armor, tanks, shells
Battleships and Carriers
WWI, WWII, Korea, Nam
Pumping Iron, Making Steel
Empire State and US Steel Buildings
Locks for the Panama Canal
The Brooklyn and Verrazanno bridges
You name it
all that steel came from
The Big Ugly
The Union made its mark with blood and guts
You folks who never worked The Big Gray Ugly
could never understand
that 25 cents an hour as you put
your life on the line every day
was not worth it if something bad happened
like loss of limb or even life
That the nice foreman who slept with
your wife
Wouldn't take care of her or your kids
It was a hot summer day in 1972
That I first walked through
The Hole In The Wall Gate
Wearing my new hard toed shoes
and orange rookie hard hat
The Wandering Hippie Pagan
Meets the Big Gray Ugly
And I felt I had something to prove
After all (I was questioned every day)
What's a nice Pagan kid like you
doing in a hellhole like this?
Digging ditches, Spiking Rails
Just like you!
Track Gang, one step above the Labor Gang
I knew I had something to prove
and then one day I found my niche
They put a torch in my hands
as I cut all the rails
for the central wharf
I felt the history of the Big Gray Ugly
surge through my hands
As I saw the fire of ancient mill workers
pass through my eyes
The spark was lit
Back in 72 we had a company union
that took our dues
and never fought our fights for us
but soon we got together
with folks like
Michelle (Who published the Locals Newspaper)
and took back our union
Gave warning to the Company and the USWA
That Local 1397 was now Rank and File
And as the years went on
And I moved up
now a Forge Craneman
the fire stared to fade
the company's plan became very clear
to one and all
Stockpile, Layoff call em back and then lay em off again
Till the fire became very dim
Man we tried to save our jobs
To save our History
To save our Valley
To Save our Homes
and Families
But US Steal held all the cards
and our history didn't mean shit to them!
after all Mr. Rodrick said
"We're in business to make money"
so on one cold Thanksgiving Day
our sister plant in Youngstown
closed down with out a warning
as most of its workers
got the news on their car radios
while driving to work that day
All the Rank and File locals
pulled together
stormed the US Steal Building
(that was made with our blood)
Protested in DC
But Big Business Bucks Buy Votes
As congress became blind to our pain
It took two years to get
a plant closing bill through
and after all that it was only
a 60 days warning notification
60 days to watch your life go down the tubes
The next Thanksgiving found
the locals unemployed committee
at the mill gates begging money
from those who still worked
so we could have food
on our plates and our kids
have full tummies
But ones days money was not enough
more people kept getting laid off
So we had us a big rock concert
with local bands
G-Force
Iron City House Rockers
Billy Price and the Keystone Rhythm Band
Rare Experience
Made 15g and opened a food bank
Kept it going with more benefits
Bruce Springsteen came to town
helped out a whole lot
But food banks are Band-Aids
and the real banks became
land grabbers as they scarfed
up our houses because of back taxes
and overdue mortgages
MONEY GRABBERS!!
We all pulled together
The Local Unions
Homestead Unemployed Committee
Mon-Valley Unemployed Committee
Tri-State Conference on Steel
We protested, we picketed
We Lobbied, We Tried
and then one day I shall call
the beginning of the end
Came a group of misguided Ministers
who called themselves DMS
who told the union worker
that churches founded the 1st unions
(can you believe that shit?)
and they were there to help
So they misled some of us
and twisted the rest
If your not for us
your against us was their cry
and soon we were split
as the good we were doing
became undone
by their raids on Rich Churches
and Skunk Oil in Banks
as well as little rich kids at parties
We all screamed with rage
as this stuff got the front page
and the company ate it all up
Saying
See, we told you their all
Lazy, Radical Bums, we know what we are doing
After all they made too much money
That's why we are opening new mills
in Mexico and paying the workers
1.25 a day as well as closing
13 mills and using the tax break
to buy Marathon Oil
I was on the HighLevel Bridge
That goes across the Mon River
and over The Big Gray Ugly
the night the fire went out
in Open Hearth 5 (OH5)
I had just gotten back
from Youngstown
A Memorial Service
for a fallen brother that day
So I stood there with tears
in my eyes as I thought
of the history and lives
of the ancient mill workers
of the ones who came after
and the kids yet unborn
would never have a chance
to work in The Big Ugly
It was two years later
as I stood on that same spot
Ready to jump, burned out from exhaustion,
depressed by the sight
The Big Ugly was gone
I knew I had done my best to save her
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