Pullman+Strike

=** The Pullman Strike **= = In the Spring of 1894, the Pullman Palace Car Company workers organized a strike that would protest low wages and the new changes in their company. With the help of the American Railroad Union, these workers were able to lead a city wide revolt, resulting in the boycott of Pullman’s sleeping train cars from many trains that moved throughout the city. This boycott and strike against the Pullman Company resulted in government intervention and the passing of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which made it illegal to hold a strike against a company. This strike also resulted in many short term and long term effects that would go on to change to course of America’s industrial age. = A depiction of the Pullman Strike in Chicago.

George Pullman: The President In 1831, George Pullman was born in Brocton, New York. Pullman moved to Chicago, Illinois to work on elevating a five-story building in 1859. One year later, Pullman moved to Colorado to manage a mill. Shortly after that, though, in 1863, Pullman moved back to Chicago to concentrate on improving sleeper cars on trains. Once he returned, the Alton and St. Louis Railroad agreed to let Pullman renovate two of its passenger cars into sleeper cars. The cars became very popular among the public, and within one year, 48 sleeper cars were operating under Pullman and his partner, Benjamin Field. In 1867, the Pullman Palace Car Company was established. These sleeping cars were a part of the train when the Transcontinental Railroad from Chicago to Sacramento, California was complete in 1869. These cars made the five-day journey more pleasurable and comfortable. Due to the success of the sleeping cars, the company was also able to create and manufacture dining cars and parlor cars. In 1880, the company built the town of Pullman near Chicago to house the employees, and also to manufacture the cars for trains. The town held more than 10,000 residents, and it included rental houses, a church, a bank, and a store for the employees. When the town was first established, Pullman was given a lot of credit for establishing the town and looking out for his workers. However, throughout the 1880s, Pullman dealt with a lot of legal matters, because he wanted to protect his sleeping car monopoly. Slowly, Pullman lost the bond with his employees, which didn’t help his cause when his workers decided to strike in 1894. After the strike, his business continued to grow, although his personal reputation was destroyed. Americans saw him as a greedy business man. In 1897, at the age of 66, Pullman died of a massive heart attack.

George Pullman, Owner of the Pullman Palace Car Company. =** Changes Made 1893-1894: **= During the Depression era of 1893, many railroad companies began to cut back their orders for the sleeping passenger cars and other train cars that were manufactured by the Pullman Company. As a result of this, George Pullman had no other choice but to also begin to cut back on his work force from 5,800 to 1,100 workers by the end of that year.[i ] He also had to cut back on the workers wages by 25%.[ii ]

George Pullman used many of the same tactics as other railroad companies during this era to manage his business after the Depression of 1893. These tactics included reducing the importance of skilled labor, imposing new job protocols, standardizing rules for hiring, firing and promotion giving, and creating job ladders. [iii] The railroad companies also wanted to limit the power of skilled laborers by cutting back on operating costs and creating a more stable and an easily managed workforce.[iv ]

Due to the cuts in their wages, workers now had to work harder than ever to earn their money because their rental rates for the houses in the town of Pullman had not been reduced. In March and April of 1894, the Pullman workers joined the American Railroad Union, hoping that the union would help them get through this difficult time. [i ] [] [ii ] Ibid [iii ] [] [iv ] Ibid

The Strike Business was booming for the Pullman Palace Car Company. The company town of Pullman was idealistic to many Americans, and employees had access to running water, electricity, and they were able to buy all they needed at the company store. The rents of the houses in the town, though, were much higher than the rent of houses in nearby towns. During the Panic of 1893, though, wages for the thousands of employees were slashed by 25%. As if this were not bad enough, rent, fuel and other costs of living components were still the same price. As a result, most of the workers could not afford to pay rent. In the spring of 1894, many employees had joined the American Railroad Union, which held its first convention in Chicago on June 12. The union supported the workers, and they wanted to take action. The president of the union, Eugene Debs, was very cautious towards taking immediate action. He felt that they should talk to George Pullman to try to resolve the problems. The union decided that if the company didn’t accept mediation in four days, workers would boycott any trains that carried Pullman cars. The company was firm, and a boycott did take place. Around 125,000 employees joined in the boycott by the end of June. To break up the strike, the company attached mail cars to the same trains that also had Pullman cars operating. Because the mail wasn’t being delivered, the government was allowed to intervene in the strike. Attorney Richard Olney was sent in my President Grover Cleveland. The federal troops arrived in Illinois, and they shot at the crowd. Around 30 people were killed. Debs went to jail for violating the injunction, which said that strikes were not allowed. Interesting enough, though, the injunction was passed under the Sherman Antitrust Act. The act states: “ Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.” So the employees were getting in trouble over something that wasn’t allowed to be practiced. On August 2, the boycott was called off. A depiction of what the aftermath of the Pullman Strike was in Chicago

After the strike, the Pullman Company was re-opened; however, the previous workers for the company who acted as leaders during the strike were not rehired after the strike.
 * Effects of the Strike:**

After the government intervention in Chicago in July of 1894, a federal injunction was issued on July 3rd and 4th, 1894 by US President Grover Cleveland, which made it illegal to have a strike anywhere for any cause. This injunction became known as the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. This act stated that it was now unlawful for any union or workforce from participating and /or starting a strike. United States President Grover Cleveland: In office March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1897
 * The Anti-Trust Act**

Link to ABC-Clio - Sherman Antitrust Act: []


 * Short Term Effects of the Pullman Strike:**
 * After serving six months in prison, Eugene Debs, the American Railroad Union leader became the leading spokesperson for the Socialist Party during its first two decades of existence.
 * After the organization of the Socialist Party, Americans began to feel that the government should remain severely limited and only to protect and extend the market by providing individuals with the resources—usually land and education, which was necessary for property ownership.[1 ]


 * Long Term Effects of the Pullman Strike:**
 * The organization of many new workers’ unions.
 * The Socialist Party of America was created in 1897
 * Many Americans began to work outside of their homes by working and moving to factories and other industrial based businesses in the city.
 * Many small businesses began to fall into the hands of trusts and large business corporations.
 * Changes were made to the Sherman Antitrust Act, now by only setting up guide lines for organized strikes instead of banning them.
 * The Erdman Act was passed in 1898, which outlawed the “yellow -dog” contracts set up by companies which demand that each worker must reject their union organizations.[2 ]

[1 ] [] [2 ] Ibid


 * Wiki Bibliography**

eHistory at The Ohio State University. “Pullman Strike”. OSU Department of History. (2010) []

==== "George Pullman." //American History//. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 10 May 2010. <[] clio.com>.[] eorge+pullman&type=simple&option=all&searchsites=4,5,6,7,8, ====

Howes, Edward H. “Three weeks that shook the Nation and the California’s capital: The Pullman strike of 1894 was a national and local calamity.” Conference of California Historical Societies. []

Illinois During the Gilded Ages. “The Pullman Strike”//.// Illinois During the Gilded Ages. (2007) [] “The Pullman Strike” University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1984) []

"Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)." //American History//. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 7 May 2010. <[]>. []