Pullman+Strike+of+1894


 * Pullman Strike of 1894**


 * __Company__**

Pullman, Illinois was a company owned town built by George Pullman, the founder of the Pullman Car Company. This company was a manufacturer of passenger cars for trains, specifically first class sleeping

cars. With its manufacturing plants in the town, the company operated cars on almost every one of the nation’s major railroads. Pullman made a profit off of the town workers by selling them housing and water at an increased rate. He created an economy that did not leave any room for competition. Pullman publicized his town as filled with happy, well paid workers.


 * __Workers__**

Workers in Pullman, Illinois sold their labor to the town company. They depended on the town, as most residents were payed by the town company and bought goods and supplies from it's stores. When wages were cut during the panic of 1893, this became a problem for the workers, who organized a union.

The following is an excerpt from a testimony by Thomas W. Heathcoate, a worker and member of the union.

In May 1893, we were getting good wages. Along about September 1893, our wages began to be reduced because work was slack, and they kept reducing our pay each month. They kept reducing the price of piecework until it was almost impossible for us to live; in January 1894, the men wanted to strike, but we were not organized at that time; and in order to succeed in securing a higher rate of pay it became necessary for us to organize in some way; we could not see any more feasible plan than to organize in the American Railway Union, for the reason, we believed, that union was stronger than any other organization in the country.


 * __Problems__**

Wanting to avoid bankruptcy in the face of the depression, Pullman wanted to preserve his profits by lowering labor costs. In order to do this, Pullman cut down his labor force from 5,500 workers to 3,300. He also cut the wages of the remaining workers and average of 25 percent. He did not, however, make cuts on rent, fuel, or other components of the cost of living. By the spring of 1894, many workers had decided to join the American Railway Union, led by Eugene Debs. In May, the Union organized a grievance committee in order to try and negotiate with the union. This led to further clashes between the workers and the company.

__** Strike! **__ A man named Eugene Debs, who was the leader of the American Railroad Union (ARU), began gathering railroad workers that were upset with the current conditions they were living with. These workers were from all over the company, and were all a part of the Pullman strike. The plan was to have all the men that ran the trains, to refuse to work any train with a Pullman car on it. The ARU told the Pullman Company that they would have four days to choose if they were going to give in, or if the ARU was going to boycott all trains that have the Pullman cars attached. When the government did not give in, the workers in Chicago refused to run passenger trains as well. Overtime, about 125 thousand workers joined the boycott.

__** Back to Work **__

When the Pullman Company realized that the workers were not backing down, they attached mail carrier cars to the Pullman sleeping cars to see if the workers return. Since the mail cars were not being operated, the mail on it would neither be sent nor received. This problem forced President Cleveland to send troops in and end the strike. The troops gathered around the strikers, and began to fire killing about 30 people. The ARU put an end to the boycott in the beginning of August. Eugene Debs was put in jail for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890

__** Impact **__ As a result of the strike, Eugene Debs became on of America’s most popular social leaders. The Pullman strike was one of the first strikes to go against the labor issue. After it ended, many more people were questioning the, “labor problem” in their cities. Most workers were concerned about protecting the public interest. Many strikes followed after people became more aware of their treatment as workers.

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Sources:

ABC Clio:
==//American History, s.v. "Pullman strike," accessed May 10, 2011. http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/.// , s.v. "Pullman strike," accessed May 10, 2011. http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/. == ==Freebie: == ==//eHistory at OSU, s.v. PullmanStrike,// [|__//http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/1912/content/pullman.cfm//__]  //(accessed May 10, 2011).// == ==  Primary: //Prentice Hall// , s.v. “Report On the Chicago Strike of June–july 1894 Testimony of Thomas W. Heathcoate,” []  (accessed May 10, 2011). ==

==//American History //, s.v. "Eugene V. Debs," Image, Library of Congress, accessed May 15, 2011. http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/. == == <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Primary: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//American History// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, s.v. "Pullman strike," Image, North Wind Picture Archives, accessed May 11, 2011. http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/290194?terms=Pullman+strike+of+1894__] <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> Book: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Schneirov, Richard, Shelton Stromquist, and Nick Salvatore, eds. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//The Pullman Strike and the Crisis of the 1890s: ESSAYS ON LABOR AND POLITICS (Working Class in American History)// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. University of Illinois Press, 1999. ==