Pullman+Strike

= THE PULLMAN STRIKE =

The Company
The Pullman Palace Car Company was formed in 1867 by George Mortimer Pullman in Chicago. Pullman, a native of New York, moved his residence to Chicago and began designing schematics for a luxury railroad sleeping car. Sleeping cars at that time were dirty, crowded, and poorly made, so Pullman set out to make significant changes in the overall quality of these less than stellar designs. With a partnership with a close friend and state senator, Benjamin Field, Pullman spent an entire year and over $20,000 to build his new design.

Pullman’s new sleeping car became popular due to his selection as the corpse bearer for Abraham Lincoln’s body on the trip to Springfield. With the Pullman car becoming more common, he formed the Pullman Palace Car Company in 1867. To supply the demand for cars, he built the town of Pullman, Illinois for the location of his largest factory. In this town, he owned everything from municipalities to lodging; this meant that there was no competition in this small town of 12,000+ residents, and Pullman could run everything in any way he wished.

The United States Strike Commission recognizes the Pullman Palace Car Company as responsible for:


 * 1) //"The operation of its cars upon about 125,000 miles of railroad, being about three fourths of the railway mileage of the country...//
 * 2) //The manufacture and repair of such cars.//
 * 3) //The manufacture of cars of all kinds for the general market.//
 * 4) //The care and management, as owner and landlord, of the town of Pullman"//

This exerpt from a Senate Executive Document gives Pullman jurisdiction from the Federal Government to control his town, turning it into a monopoly and leading his employees to revolt against his strict policies.

Problems
The Pullman Company was responsible for everything in the factory town; people rented houses from the company, and bought food and necessities from the company store, and worked in the factory for a wage. The prices were not always great though, as Pullman charged extra for water, and charged 20-25% higher for rent than the surrounding cities and towns. In 1893, the country was in economic turmoil in what was called the Panic of 1893, and Pullman responded by cutting wages by one quarter and kept all other prices the same. This began a chain of events that would lead to the strike of over 100,000 Pullman workers, and the death of 30 protestors.

Strike
The Pullman Strike was brought on by the Panic of 1893, which caused Pullman cars to be produced at a loss. To counteract this,

[[image:http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/1912/images/train_and_troops.JPG width="257" height="160" align="right" caption="Federal Troops entering the city of Pullman on July 3"]]
Pullman had to lay off many of his workers and decreased the average wage by 25 percent, yet refused to lower the costs of food, rent, or other necessities in the workers’ town. In May 1894, the workers approached Pullman in protest, causing him to fire three of them, finally sparking the strike. Following that incident, 20,000 Pullman workers joined the American Railroad Union within a period of three days. The Union ordered a national boycott of Pullman cars, which spread to 27 states in total, but it got uncontrollable when American mail was interfered with. The federal government then had the right to get involved as President Grover Cleveland sent 2,500 troops to end the strike. The troops killed about 30 strikers, effectively ending the strike. The federal courts legally stopped the strike, and the ARU called a stop to the boycott on August 2.


 * Impact [[image:http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/38/7938-004-ABC872A5.jpg width="193" height="242" align="right" caption="Eugene V. Debs, Founder of the American Railroad Union (ARU)"]] **

Concerning the relationship between workers and owners, the Pullman Strike changed many people’s perspectives on industry. Firstly, company towns, previously thought to be a brilliant idea, were no longer an option for developing factories and companies. An economic crisis like that of 1893, caused the stability of the town to be ruined. Also, as a result of the failure of the strike, a pattern for companies with striking unions was set. The corruption of the federal government and large factory owners made it possible for owners to appeal for court orders against a striking union, like the ARU. Federal courts, with pressure from corrupt politicians, would regularly approve these appeals, squashing several strikes that followed the Pullman Strike. Therefore, social and economic gains for workers by American unions were severely limited for over thirty years.

__References__
“Embracing More Railroads,” //New York Times//, 29 June 1894, p. 1.

//Pullman Strike//. ABC-CLIO, accessed 7 May 2010; available from http://www.americanhistory.abcclio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=4&searchtext=pullman+strike&type=simple& option=all&entryid=445660&issublink=true&fromsearch=false; Internet.

Richard Schneirov and others, //The Pullman Strike and the Crisis of the 1890s// [book on-line]. Chicago, IL, 1999, accessed 7 May 2010; available from http://books.google.com/books?id=OA-31eBGzpkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=pullman+strike&cd=2#v=onepage&q&f=false; Internet.

//U.S. Strike Commission Report, Senate Executive Document No. 7, 53d Congress, 3d session//. Accessed 7 May 2010; available from http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/athome/1850/voices/curtis/car.htm; Internet.

Warne, Colston E. //The Pullman Boycott of 1894: The Problem of Federal Intervention//. Boston: D.C. Health and Company, 1955.

__Pictography__
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