The Pullman Strike

Founder and President of the Pullman Palace Car Company,  George Pullman organized his company in 1867. Early on in his company, he decided to create a city to house all of his workers. Anyone who wanted to work for him was required to live in this three-thousand-acre city. Because he controlled everything in his city, the workers were subject to his decisions on wages, rents, prices, and everything in between.

In 1893, Pullman decreased the wages 25% due to a depression, but he kept the rent prices the same. Because of this, the expenses of the workers stayed the same but their incomes were not sufficient to support them. When many workers went into debt due to this change, Pullman took the money they owed him out of their paychecks, perpetuating the issue of money.

Then, on May 11, 1894, a "wildcat" strike erupted in Pullman City. Three thousand workers went on a strike without authorization of their union, which was the American Railroad Union for most. Then in June, some of these Union members barred trains with Pullman cars to move, besides the mail cars.

When a group of 24 railroads, the General Managers Association, tried to end the strike, and said they would fire anyone who did not move cars. The union then countered that threat, saying that if someone was fired for this, all union members would walk away from the job. When the end of June came, fifty thousand men quit, fights broke out, and the railroads were barren of movement west of Chicago.

The calling of federal troops required permission from President Cleveland, but at this time, he was not willing to send them without consent of the Governor. John Altgeld did not want to agree to sending federal troops to stop the strikes because he believed in workers rights and equality to the rights of their bosses.

Attorney General Richard Olney was on the side of the General Managers Association, and he favored President Cleveland sending troops into Chicago to end the strike. When Olney received an injunction from a federal court labeling these strikes illegal, Cleveland had to send in troops to end the strike, and violence broke out in the streets as the angry cries of the people that the federal government was intervening were heard.

The ringleader of the union workers, Eugene Debs, was arrested along with several other union leaders. After this, he realized his efforts were useless with the federal troops present, and so most workers went back to work. Several were blacklisted, meaning no railroad could ever hire them.

The importance of the Pullman Strike was that it helped people realize how bad employers could really be. No longer was George Pullman a figure of hope for factory workers, but people saw him as greedy and someone who treated his workers poorly.

This strike, one of the 4 major strikes during this time period, which alongside the Great Railroad Strikes of 1877, the Haymarket Square Strike, and the Homestead Steel Strike, helped people notice workers rights and the importance that individuals had to the industrial system.



Source: http://www.lib.niu.edu/1994/ihy941208.html