What does that mean?
126 years ago yesterday, 11May, workers of the Pullman Company went out on strike…….
It was a general strike against the railroads and was squashed by Pres. Cleveland and the use of federal troops…..
The Pullman Company built and leased passenger train cars, thousands of which were in operation around the United States by 1893. George Pullman also built a planned community or company town for his workers in Illinois, where workers enjoyed many amenities but were also financially dependent on the Pullman Company for their homes and utilities.
After a severe depression in 1893, wages fell about 25 percent for the Pullman workers while living costs remained the same. The workers then sought out union representation. Former railroad worker Eugene V. Debs and his American Railway Union, which had won a strike earlier in 1894, became involved in the Pullman situation. The May 11 “wildcat” strike wasn’t directly organized by the ARU, but Debs and the union quickly became involved in the strike as it escalated.
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-the-pullman-strike-changes-labor-law
The Pullman Strike of 1894 was a milestone in American labor history, as the widespread strike by railroad workers brought business to a standstill across large parts of the nation until the federal government took unprecedented action to end the strike. President Grover Cleveland ordered federal troops to crush the strike, and dozens were killed in violent clashes in the streets of Chicago, where the strike was centered.
Key Takeaways: The Pullman Strike
- Strike affected rail transportation nationwide, essentially bringing American business to a halt.
- Workers resented not only cut in wages, but management’s intrusiveness into their personal lives.
- The federal government became involved, with federal troops being sent to open railroads.
- Massive strike changed how Americans viewed relationship of workers, management, and the federal government.
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-pullman-strike-of-1894-1773900
This strike helped launch the political career of Eugene Debs…..an eventual presidential candidate that opposed Wilson in 1912….
I know….who?
Outspoken leader of the labor movement, Eugene Debs opposed Woodrow Wilson as the Socialist Party candidate in the 1912 Presidential Election. Later, he would continue to rally against President Wilson and his decision to take American into war — and be jailed for it under the Espionage Act.
Debs was born in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1855, the son of poor Alsatian immigrants. Though his parents encouraged an intellectual spirit, Debs left high school after one year to become a locomotive paint-scraper. There, among the rough-and-tumble of railway men, Debs found his calling. From his membership in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen to his role co-founding the Industrial Workers of the World (the “wobblies”), Debs raised his voice in defense of the common man
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/wilson-eugene-debs/
Labor has given the workers ALL the benefits they have used over the last century……and now is the time for labor unions to step up and be at the front of the struggle for the people of this country.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”