- Before the beginning of the workday, William Steinway speaks to the assembly of Steinway & Sons workers, explaining to them that if he accepted their demand of eight-hour workday and 20% pay raise, it would increase the piano prices by 33% and cut the demand by half, which would result in decrease in business and the necessity to lay off half of the currently employed workers. It would also drive the business out of New York City, destroy Steinway & Sons’s export trade, and force the company into the competition against the makers of cheap pianos, which Steinway & Sons, as a maker of high quality pianos, would lose.
- At the end of his speech, William Steinway proposes that the workmen vote via secret ballot, whether they prefer to deal with Steinway family directly, or be dictated by the union. 254 out of 418 voters, approximately 61%, choose to deal directly with Steinways.
- Having received the result of the ballot, William Steinway offers his workers either a 10% pay raise, or a reduction of work hours from ten to nine.
- The striking non-Steinway workers quickly learn that Steinway & Sons employees prefer to deal with their employers directly, and are being offered a compromise. At 2 P.M., when Steinway & Sons workers return from their lunch, a crowd of three thousand enraged “non-Steinway” picketers surround the factory. There are only 20 police officers on site, not nearly enough for effective crowd control.
- After lunch, Steinway & Sons workers resume their meeting, presided by an employee named Henry Helling, who is assisted by Jose Rivera, a.k.a. Joseph R. Rivers. Several English and German speakers urge the workers to strike, and are met with applause. Those in favor of compromise with William Steinway are silenced.
- At 4 P.M. Steinway & Sons workers decide to vote for or against the strike, and the result is almost unanimous in favor of the strike.
- Steinway & Sons workers’ committee calls on William Steinway and informs him, not without regret, that the peer pressure motivated the workers to reject his offer, and to vote in favor of the strike.
- William Steinway informs the committee, that he will write a letter to Steinway & Sons dealers and ask if in their opinion the buyers would pay a higher price for Steinway & Sons pianos. Should the dealers approve the price increase, William Steinway would agree to workers’ demands. Otherwise, he would be obligated to refuse.
- William Steinway contacts the dealers, via Steinway & Sons confidential circular, asking their opinion about the proposed $60 to $120 increase of the price of Steinway & Sons pianos.