The Pullman Strike 1894
George Pullman was an industrialist who owned the Palace Sleeping Car Company. His innovation allowed people to travel on the railroads in the same grand style in which they lived. Linen tablecloths, crystal chandeliers, fine china, silver utensils, and the latest in seating and bedroom furniture adorned his lavish sleeping cars.
Pullman advocated for the utmost control of his workforce while maximizing his profitability. He built Pullman, a company town located on the far south side of Chicago, for the workers of his Palace Sleeping Car Company. Workers who lived in the company town were paid by Pullman in script for their work but then had to pay Pullman for the rent of their houses, for groceries in the company store, and to tithe at the company church. If a worker was unable to pay his rent, he was evicted and lost his job.
In 1894, Pullman reduced wages for his workers without corresponding to a reduction in rent. For workers that lived in Pullman, they could not pay their rent on the new low wages. When George Pullman refused to listen to the demands of his workers, they appealed for support from the American Railway Union (ARU). Eugene Debs, leader of the ARU, called for a strike on May 11, 1894.
On behalf of the Pullman strikers, Debs called for a boycott of any trains with Pullman cars. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) opposed the boycott as did the general public. As ARU members and other railroad workers boycotted in solidarity, the nation’s railroad, particularly in the West, came to a standstill. Tempers flared between strikers and those opposing the boycott. In city after city, violence erupted.
The newspapers vilified the boycott with editorials and political cartoons. As the trains remained idle, the United States Mail was undeliverable. With a court injunction against Debs and the ARU, President Grover Cleveland ordered the US Army to enforce the court injunction. Violence ensued.
Across the country, trains sat idle. Strikers vandalized the stalled trains by burning boxcars and coal cars. Debs refused to adhere to the court injunction and called for strikers to walk off of the job, crippling rail travel nationwide. State and federal troops used force to quell and disperse mobs determined to disrupt the railroads. Debs was arrested and the strike ended. 30 strikers died and 57 were wounded. In an effort to appease organized labor, Labor Day was designated a national holiday six days after the Pullman strike ended.