Editing Pullman Strike (section)

{{Short description|1894 labor strike in the United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox civil conflict
| image = Pullman strikers outside Arcade Building.jpg
| caption = Striking railroad workers confront [[Illinois Army National Guard|Illinois National Guard]] troops in Chicago during the strike.
| date = May 11, 1894 – July 20, 1894
| place = Began in [[Pullman, Chicago]]; spread throughout the [[United States]]
| coordinates = 
| goals = Union recognition <br /> Wage increase <br /> Rent reduction
| methods = [[Strike action|Strikes]], [[protest]], [[Demonstration (people)|demonstrations]]
| status = 
| result = ''Strike unsuccessful''<br />{{bulleted list
|Federal government obtained an injunction against strikers.
|President [[Grover Cleveland]] ordered the [[United States Army|Army]] to stop the strikers from obstructing trains.
|Strike leader [[Eugene V. Debs]] was arrested and convicted of conspiracy and violation of a court order and sentenced to six months in prison.
|[[American Railway Union]] dissolved
}}
| concessions = 
| side1 = [[American Railway Union]];<br /> railroad workers
| side2 = [[Pullman Company]];<br /> General Managers' Assoc; <br /> [[United States National Guard|US National Guard]]
| leadfigures1 = [[Eugene V. Debs]]
| leadfigures2 = [[George Pullman]];<br /> [[Grover Cleveland]]
| casualties1 = '''Deaths''': 70 est.<br />'''Injuries''': 57<br />'''Arrests''': 4+
| casualties2 = <!--'''Deaths''': 0<br />'''Injuries''':-->
| casualties_label = Casualties
| map_type = 
| map_size = 
| map_caption = 
| partof = 
| howmany1 = ~250,000
| howmany2 = ~12,000
| sidebox = {{Campaignbox US Labor strikes}} {{Campaignbox Railroad strikes}}
}}
The '''Pullman Strike''' comprised two interrelated strikes in 1894 that shaped national labor policy in the United States during a period of deep economic depression. First came a strike by the [[American Railway Union]] (ARU) against the [[Pullman Company]]'s factory in Chicago in spring 1894. When it failed, the ARU launched a national boycott against all trains that carried Pullman passenger cars.<ref>A standard scholarly history is Almont Lindsey, ''The Pullman strike : the story of a unique experiment and of a great labor upheaval'' (1942) [https://archive.org/details/pulmanstrike0000lind online]</ref> The nationwide railroad boycott that lasted from May 11 to July 20, 1894, was a turning point for [[US labor law]]. 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 strike and boycott shut down much of the nation's freight and passenger traffic west of [[Detroit]], Michigan. 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. Most of the factory workers who built Pullman cars lived in the "[[company town]]" of [[Pullman, Chicago|Pullman]] just outside of Chicago. Pullman was designed as a model community by its namesake founder and owner [[George Pullman]]. Jennie Curtis who lived in Pullman was president of seamstress union ARU LOCAL 269 gave a speech at the ARU convention urging people to strike.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nps.gov/people/jennie-curtis.htm | title=Jennie Curtis (U.S. National Park Service) }}</ref><ref name=Pullman_Strike>{{cite web |title=The Pullman Strike and Boycott |work=Annals of American History |url=http://www.america.eb.com/america/article?articleId=386364&query=pullman+strike |access-date=January 24, 2014 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

As the [[Panic of 1893]] weakened much of the economy, railroad companies ceased purchasing new passenger cars made by Pullman. The company laid off workers and reduced the wages of retained 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.<ref name=":02322">{{Cite book|last1=Roark|first1=James L.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1096495503|title=The American Promise: A History of the United States|last2=Johnson|first2=Michael P.|last3=Furstenburg|first3=Francois|last4=Cline Cohen|first4=Patricia|last5=Hartmann|first5=Susan M.|last6=Stage|first6=Sarah|last7=Igo|first7=Sarah E.|publisher=Bedford/St. Martin's|year=2020|isbn=978-1319208929|edition=Value Edition, 8th|volume=Combined Volume|location=Boston, MA|at=Kindle Location 15016|chapter=Chapter 20 Dissent, Depression, and War: 1890–1900|type=Kindle|oclc=1096495503}}</ref> They had not yet formed a union.<ref name="Pullman_Strike" /> Founded in 1893 by [[Eugene V. Debs]], the ARU was an organization of railroad workers. Debs brought in ARU organizers to Pullman and signed up many of the disgruntled factory workers.<ref name="Pullman_Strike" /> 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. To win the strike, Debs decided to stop the movement of Pullman cars on railroads. The over-the-rail Pullman employees (such as conductors and porters) did not go on strike.<ref name="Pullman_Strike" />

Debs and the ARU called a massive [[boycott]] against all trains that carried a Pullman car. It affected most rail lines west of Detroit and at its peak involved some 250,000 workers in 27 states.<ref name=":0">{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Pullman-Strike|title=Pullman Strike {{!}} United States history|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2017-11-16|language=en}}</ref> The [[American Federation of Labor]] (AFL) opposed the boycott because the ARU was trying to take its membership. The high prestige [[railroad brotherhoods]] of Conductors and Engineers were opposed to the boycott. The Fireman brotherhood—of which Debs had been a prominent leader—was split.<ref>White (2011) p 436.</ref> The General Managers' Association of the railroads coordinated the opposition. Thirty people were killed in riots in Chicago alone.<ref name="Ray Ginger 1962 p 170">{{cite book|author=Ray Ginger|title=Eugene V. Debs |year=1962|publisher=Macmillan |page=170|display-authors=etal}}</ref> Historian David Ray Papke, building on the work of Almont Lindsey published in 1942, estimated that another 40 were killed in other states.<ref name="Papke 1999 35–37">{{cite book|last=Papke|first=David Ray|title=The Pullman Case: The Clash of Labor and Capital in Industrial America|series=Landmark law cases & [[American society]]|location=Lawrence, Kansas|publisher=University Press of Kansas|year=1999|pages=35–37 |isbn=978-0-7006-0954-3|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780700609543/page/35}}</ref> Property damage exceeded $80&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite book|author=John R. Commons|title=History of Labour in the United States |volume=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6J1ShTnok40C&pg=PA502|year=1918|publisher=Macmillan |page=502|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

The federal government obtained an injunction against the union, Debs, and other boycott leaders, ordering them to stop interfering with trains that carried mail cars. After the strikers refused, Grover Cleveland ordered in the Army to stop the strikers from obstructing the trains. Violence broke out in many cities, and the strike collapsed. Defended by a team including [[Clarence Darrow]], Debs was convicted of violating a court order and sentenced to prison; the ARU then dissolved.