The Pullman Strike

1. The Pullman Strike Rhett Baker

2. Key Players • Pullman Palace Car Company- manufactured luxury railroad cars between 1880 and 1979 • Founded by George M. Pullman in Chicago, Illinois • Was originally designed as a sleeping and luxury railcar service in 1867 • In 1880 began building cars and providing the services for the trains • Became the largest railroad car manufacturer in the United States • American Railway Union (ARU)- primary goal was to united railway employees of all different positions into one large union • Founded in Chicago June 20, 1893 • Led by Eugene V. Debs • Eugene V. Debs- socialist and advocate for American unions and worker rights

3. Pullman the Town • One of the Pullman manufacturing locations was in Pullman, Illinois • George Pullman founded the town, and it served as a residency for his workers • Was a complete town • Homes for workers were inadequate • Poor structures • No plumbing • Pullman designed the outskirts of the town to appear lavish from the exterior and a “model town of workers” to the public The Outskirts of the Pullman Town

4. Origin of the Strike • Panic of 1893 • Pullman offset losses by cutting factory productivity and reducing wages • Did not reduce rents, utility charges, or store prices • Resulted in workers having little profit from labor after living expenses • May 7th, 1894 Pullman workers formed a committee • Requested rent to be lowered to coincide with deductions in wages • Pullman refused and terminated three of the committee members George Pullman

5. The Strike Begins • After the termination of committee members, workers declared their intent to strike • On May 10th, 1894 Pullman workers in Pullman, Illinois walked off the job • On May 11th, 1894 the Pullman Plant officially closed • Strike was peaceful for several weeks • Pullman management continued to refuse arbitration with workers • Pullman Union strikers became desperate for aid Pullman workers walking out after declaring a strike

6. Assistance Provided • Under the direction of Eugene Debs the American Railroad Union offered assistance to the Pullman workers • The ARU had 465 local unions at the time • Pullman workers were recognized as an affiliated union • Debs attempted to push Pullman into arbitration on behalf of the Pullman workers • The company refused • On June 26th, 1894 the ARU called for a national blockade and boycott of Pullman cars • Switchmen refused to switch trains containing any Pullman cars

7. Expansion of the Strike • Work stoppage against all railroads utilizing Pullman cars was initiated • Within four days of Debs’ work stoppage order, 125,000 workers employed at twenty-nine separate railroads walked off the job • The Pullman Strike had officially begun • Two sides of the strike • Big railroad companies aligning with Pullman • Laborers of railways, and other skilled and unskilled professions aligning with Pullman workers • Actions were directed toward the General Managers’ Association • Responsible for twenty-four of the rail lines entering Chicago • GMA hired strikebreakers • Many were African American Eugene Debs

8. Rally and Sympathies • On June 27th, 1894 Debs held a peaceful rally at Blue Island, Illinois • Location of railroad workers also boycotting Pullman cars • Following the speech, the crowd lit nearby buildings afire and derailed a railcar • Debs’ leadership of the ARU caused other states to participate in the strike • Sympathy strikes by local unions occurred in twenty-seven other states, and over 250,000 workers participated in the boycott at its peak • Gained the Pullman strike nationwide recognition • First “National Strike”

9. Government Response • July 2nd, 1894 President Grover Cleveland, with assistance from U.S. Attorney General Richard Olney, issued a federal injunction against the ARU • Forbid union leaders from supporting the strike • Prevented ARU leaderships, such as Debs, from communicating with the striking workers • Banned the union from interfering with mail and rail movement within the state of Illinois • Cited the Interstate Commerce Act President Grover Cleveland Attorney General Richard Olney

10. Sherman Antitrust Act • Originally intended to curb the existence of trusts and business monopolies • It was used to restrict actions of the ARU during the strike and boycott • Cleveland used it to instead curb the “abuses” of the Pullman strike movement • Enabled the jailing of strikers and the use of federal troops • Sought to primarily break the Pullman Strike and the ARU boycott of Pullman cars

11. Federal Troops • July 3rd, 1894 President Grover Cleveland ordered troops into Chicago • Illinois Governor Peter Altgeld failed to convince Cleveland to use other measures to put down the strikes • Eugene Debs also warned of the possible violence that could ensue • Eight companies of infantry, one troop of cavalry, and an artillery battalion were positioned along the railroad tracks leading into Chicago • Constituted a force of over two thousand men

12. Public Reaction • July 4th the federal troops’ presence kindled violence • Engines were removed from railcars and destroyed • Freight cars overturned • Tower-men removed and dragged from posts • Soldiers struck with stones, rail spikes, and bricks • Those engaged in the mayhem were primarily citizens of Chicago and sympathizers of the strikers • To address the situation, two thousand special deputies were hired by federal marshals and brought in

13. Continued Riots • The next day, July 5th, a mob of nearly 10,000 citizens marched from the packinghouse district of Chicago to the rail yards • Destroyed property • Set railcars afire • Pushed freight cars off tracks • Vandalized buildings of the World Fair site • On July 6th an Illinois Central manager shot two rioters, which sparked revenge by citizens • Seven hundred freight cars were torched • Railroad buildings and bridges were burned • Telegraph lines destroyed • In total thirteen people were killed, and fifty-three injured in Chicago

14. AFL and the Strike’s End • National labor leaders convened to discuss the possibility of a general strike in support of the workers • Samuel Gompers, leader of the AFL, believed the cause was lostdue to the issuing of: • Federal injunctions • Federal troops • AFL labeled George Pullman as “a public enemy” • Commended the ARU boycott and rail workers • Concluded that a general strike would be unwise Samuel Gompers

15. Eugene Debs and Pullman • Following the strike, Debs and other aids were arrested for: • Interfering with U.S. mail • Obstructing interstate commerce • Contempt of court • Debs and his counterparts refused to accept or offer bail, and instead remained behind bars in protest of their arrests • Debs served six months in prison after being convicted for violating the court injunction • With Debs and other leaders removed the strike dwindled • By August 2nd all Pullman cars were fully active and the strike ceased Eugene Debs’ mug shot after being arrested for contempt of court

16. Precedents Set • Negatives • Willingness of federal government to intervene in large strikes to support capitalists against labor • Criticism by the media • Utilization of federal troops as strikebreakers • Manipulation of federal laws to crush labor movements • Positives • Signified the capability and power of unified labor movements • National recognition • Citizen support • Labor Day

17. References Dray, Phillip, “Pullman’s Town,” in There is Power in a Union. New York: Anchor Books, 2011. Ladd, Keith and Greg Rickman. “ The Pullman Strike, Chicago, 1894” Kansas Heritage Group. Last modified March 3, 1998. http://www.kansasheritage.org/pullman/index.html. “The Pullman Strike.” Illinois Periodicals Online. Last modified December 1994. http://www.lib.niu.edu/1994/ihy941208.html.

18. Thank You