Pullman+Strike+of+1894


 * __ Pullman Strike of 1894 __**

// “With a simple beginning of a few hundred discontented strikers at Pullman, Illinois, who were attempting to force a local issue, the Pullman strike and consequent boycottassumed the proportions of the greatest battle between labor and capital that has ever been inaugurated in the United States.”- New York Times, June 29, 1894 //

In 1867, George Pullman founded the Pullman Palace Car Company. This company designed and manufactured luxury railroad sleeper cars. In 1880, Pullman decided to construct an “ideal community” for his workers to live in called Pullman. On the surface, to outsiders, the community seemed perfect and utopian-like but those living in it felt very differently. Pullman owned everything, apartments, churches, shops, schools, and parks. He raised prices forced his employees to buy everything from him. For example, he charged $2.25 for a thousand feet of gas even though he would buy it for 33 cents. Also, rent in the Pullman town was a 25% higher than the neighboring towns. Dissatisfaction was high among the workers.
 * __The Business__**

// “Pullman may appear to be all glitter and glory to the casual visitor but there is a deep, dark background of discontent which it would be idle to deny.” // -The //Chicago Tribune//, 1888
 * __Worker Dissatisfaction/Cause__**
 * “The cause of our strike was the discharge of two members of our grievance committee the day after George M. Pullman, himself, and Thomas H. Wickes, his second vice-president, had guaranteed them absolute immunity.”**

Dissatisfaction was caused by the conditions George Pullman put on his workers. There were five reductions in wages, work, and conditions of employment. Since the rent cost did not drop with the wages the workers were forced into debt. Not only were 20 to 25 percent higher in their town than in Chicago and elsewhere, but Pullman had been buying water for a very low price and selling it for much higher. His control over the market had been causing competitors to have to lower their workers’ wages giving him an excuse to lower wages in his company because he had to conform to other businesses in the industry.

During the time leading up to the strike workers had attempted to negotiate with the company by putting together a grievance committee. The committee asked to have their wages restored, which the company ignored saying **“business conditions did not justify any change.”** The strike began on May 11th. Delegates at the American Railway Union wanted the union to take action so their president set up a committee to attempt further negotiation with the company. This plan failed and the workers boycotted trains that were pulling Pullman cars.
 * __The Strike__**

At this point the government came into play because since the trains being boycotted carried US mail they had to get involved. The sent federal troops down to settle the matter and they fired upon the crowd. 30 people were killed during the action and eventually the strike was crushed under the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.
 * __Government Involvement__**

Attorney-general Richard Olney pushed the federal courts to issue an injunction against the Pullman Strike and its leaders. This injunction was granted under the provisions of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. Due to this injunction, Debs was put on trial in front of the Supreme Court, found to be guilty, and sentenced to jail. David Brewer testified against the Debs and argued that it is the government’s duty to regulate interstate commerce and therefore remove strikes blocking it:
 * __Short Term Consequences__**

// “It (the government) is charged, therefore, with the duty of keeping those highways of interstate commerce free from obstruction, for it has always been recognized as one of the powers and duties of a government to remove obstructions from the highways under its control.” – David Brewer, May 27th, 1895 //

The Pullman strike had many effects on the ideas of pivotal leaders such as Debs and American society as a whole.
 * __Long Term Reaction__**

The outcome of the strike created a belief in Debs that the conditions faced by American workers could only improve if they could control government power. He also began reading socialist books in jail; after his release he became an influential Socialist leader.

The strike was very influential on America as a whole. People begun to realize that there was a “labor problem” in America and it desperately needed to be addressed. Americans began to campaign and work to protect “public interest” against the corporate giants.

http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/1912/content/pullman.cfm http://www.californiahistorian.com/articles/pullman-strike.html http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/445660?terms=pullman+ http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USApullman.htm Town of Pullman image: http://www.library.cornell.edu/Reps/DOCS/pulfig2.jpg []
 * __Resources:__**