Thirty people were killed in riots in Chicago alone. The General Managers' Association of the railroads coordinated the opposition. The Fireman brotherhood-of which Debs had been a prominent leader-was split. The high prestige railroad brotherhoods of Conductors and Engineers were opposed to the boycott. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) opposed the boycott because the ARU was trying to take its membership. It affected most rail lines west of Detroit and at its peak involved some 250,000 workers in 27 states. ĭebs and the ARU called a massive boycott against all trains that carried a Pullman car. The over-the-rail Pullman employees (such as conductors and porters) did not go on strike.

To win the strike, Debs decided to stop the movement of Pullman cars on railroads. When the Pullman Company refused recognition of the ARU or any negotiations, ARU called a strike against the factory, but it showed no sign of success.

Debs brought in ARU organizers to Pullman and signed up many of the disgruntled factory workers. Debs, the American Railway Union (ARU) was an organization of railroad workers. Among the reasons for the strike were the absence of democracy within the town of Pullman and its politics, the rigid paternalistic control of the workers by the company, excessive water and gas rates, and a refusal by the company to allow workers to buy and own houses. When his company laid off workers and lowered wages, it did not reduce rents, and the workers called for a strike. Īs the Panic of 1893 weakened much of the economy, railroad companies ceased purchasing new passenger cars made by Pullman. It was designed as a model community by its namesake founder and owner George Pullman. Most of the factory workers who built Pullman cars lived in the ' company town' of Pullman just outside of Chicago. The conflict began in Chicago, on May 11 when nearly 4,000 factory employees of the Pullman Company began a wildcat strike in response to recent reductions in wages. The strike and boycott shut down much of the nation's freight and passenger traffic west of Detroit, Michigan. It pitted the American Railway Union (ARU) against the Pullman Company, the main railroads, the main labor unions, and the federal government of the United States under President Grover Cleveland. The nationwide railroad boycott that lasted from May 11 to July 20, 1894, was a turning point for US labor law. When it failed, the ARU launched a national boycott against all trains that carried Pullman passenger cars. First came a strike by the American Railway Union (ARU) against the Pullman factory in Chicago in spring 1894. The Pullman Strike was two interrelated strikes in 1894 that shaped national labor policy in the United States during a period of deep economic depression.

Teachers ( AZ, CO, Los Angeles, NC, OK, WV) 2018–2019.

Harlan County War 1931–1939 ( Battle of Evarts).

Colorado Coal Strike 1927–28 ( Columbine Mine massacre).

UMW General Coal Strike 1922 ( Herrin massacre).

West Virginia coal wars 1912–21 ( Battle of Matewan, Battle of Blair Mountain).

Colorado Coalfield War 1913–14 ( Ludlow Massacre, The 10-Day War).

Illinois coal wars 1898–1900 ( Battle of Virden, Pana riot, Carterville Mine Riot).

Great railroad strike