Making tin plate was different from other kinds of metal work because it required highly skilled workers. This gave the workers more power when they talked to their bosses about pay and working conditions. Even after a major union defeat during a violent strike in 1892 in Homestead, Pennsylvania, tin plate workers stayed in unions longer than most other metal workers. By 1900, U.S. Steel took control of many tin mills and got rid of the unions. But in Wheeling, the tin mills stayed strong until a strike failed in 1909.