Pullman Strike 1894
Before there was the Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902, there was the Pullman Strike in 1894.
The Panic of 1893 ultimately turned into a disastrous depression. Facing declining profits George Pullman slashed employee salaries by 25%, but refused to lower the cost of his company housing. Workers couldn’t pay their rent, but couldn’t leave their jobs. When they tried to present their grievances over the reduction in pay, high cost of living and 16 hour workdays, Pullman refused to meet with the delegation. Instead he fired them all.
On May 11th Pullman workers walked off the job. Eugene Debs, head of the American Railway Union, supported the strike. On June 22th union delegates passed a motion to initiate a boycott if Pullman refused to submit to arbitration by June 26. Over the next three days several committees were sent to the company hoping to win concessions, but were all turned away.
On June 27th 5,000 workers went out on strike tying up 15 railroads. The next day 40,000 walked off the job that snarled lines out of Chicago. On the third day, 100,000 were out leaving at least 20 lines either tied up or completely shut down. By June 30th 125,000 workers on 29 railroads had quit work. With the help of Debs, wildcat strikes were breaking out against more and more individual lines crippling the country’s interstate commerce.
Grover Cleveland got an injunction turning the strike into a federal issue. On July 3rd, over the objection of Governor Altgeld, President Cleveland began ordering troops to Illinois. Protestors began overturning railcars and erecting barricades to prevent troops from reaching the railroad yards. On July 7th national guardsmen were assaulted and troops fired into the mob. 34 protestors were killed during the Strike. Railroad companies began hiring nonunion workers and soon the strike began to dwindle. Trains returned to normal schedules and Federal troops were recalled on July 20th.
To help patch things up after the strike Congress declared the first Monday in September as “Labor Day” honoring the nation’s workers.
