Worker Organize

Mother Jones: “I decided to take an active part in the efforts of the working people to better the conditions under which they work and live.”

Business owners wanted to keep their profits high, so they ran their factories as cheaply as possible.

The Pullman Strike Chicago, 1894

Interior of a Pullman Sleeper Car

Pullman Palace Car CompanyRailway car company owned by

George PullmanOver 6,000 workers Workers had lived in “company town”Rent was 25% higher than other areas

Pullman, Illinois

Origins of the Strike

Historical Context: Depression of 1893

Pullman cuts workers’ wages

But doesn’t cut rent for apartments

Strike Begins

May 10, 1894- Workers walk out

ARU Supports Pullman Workers

American Railway Union is a NATIONAL union of railway workers

Eugene Debs, ARU leader, decides to support Pullman strikers

Across the nation, railway workers refused to run trains that had Pullman cars attached to them

The country is paralyzed

Eugene Debs

President Grover Cleveland sends in troops

Violence Erupts

Presence of Federal troops sets off riots

Rioters burn buildings, troops kill 4 and wound 20

End of Strike

By August, strike fall apart

1000 union workers fired

New workers have to sign contracts promising not to join a union

Debs arrested and jailed for 6 months

Homestead Strike 1892

Homestead, Pennsylvania

Homestead Strike 1892

Andrew Carnegie

In the 1870s, he founded the Carnegie Steel Company, a step which cemented his name as one of the "Captains of Industry". By the 1890s, the company was the largest and most profitable industrial enterprise in the world.

Origins of the Strike After a recent increase in profits by 60%, the

company refused to raise worker's pay by more than 30%.

When some of the workers & National Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers demanded the full 60%, management locked the workers & union out.

Henry Frick brought in thousands of strikebreakers to work the steel mills and Pinkerton agents to safeguard them. The strike lasted 143 days .

Violence Erupts On 6 July, the arrival of a force of 300 Pinkerton

agents from New York City and Chicago resulted in a fight in which 10 men—seven strikers and three Pinkerton’s—were killed and hundreds were injured.

End of Strike Pennsylvania Governor Robert Pattison ordered

two brigades of state militia to the strike site. They ordered to stop the violence and end the strike.

Afterwards, the company successfully resumed operations with non-union immigrant employees in place of the Homestead plant workers.

Haymarket Affair

Chicago, May 1886

Origins of the Riot It began as a rally in support of striking workers.

Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions unanimously set May 1, 1886, as the date by which the eight-hour work day would become standard. As the chosen date approached, U.S. labor unions prepared for a general strike in support of the eight-hour day.

An estimated number of striking workers across the U.S. range from 300,000 to half a million. 40,000 workers went on strike in Chicago alone.

Riot Samuel Fielden was finishing his speech at about

10:30 when police ordered the rally to disperse and began marching in formation towards the speakers' wagon.

A pipe bomb was thrown at the police line and exploded, killing policeman Mathias J. Degan. The police immediately opened fire. Some workers were armed, but accounts vary widely as to how many shot back.

The incident lasted less than five minutes. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of eight police officers, and an unknown number of civilians.