The Pullman Strike of 1894: American Workers

Rosemary Laughlin is the author of The Ludlow Massacre of 1913-14, also published by Morgan Reynolds, as well as several other books for young readers.

The strike at the Pullman Palace Car Company was among the first of a series of major labor conflicts that altered labor-management relations in the United States. Coming right on the heels of the violent Homestead Steel Strike of 1892, the Pullman Strike began in the spring of 1894 and lasted deep into the summer. The dispute began over wages and working conditions at the famous Illinois railroad company, but soon spread into a series of sympathy strikes along the thousands of miles of railroads heading out of Chicago. The striking workers were members of the American Railway Union, which was under the leadership of Eugene V. Debs, who would go on to become the nation's foremost labor leader. The participation of the American Railway Union plus the ensuing sympathy strikes made this one of the first industrial union conflicts. The Pullman Strike also opened a new era in the U.S. economy because of the willingness of the federal government to involve itself on the side of management, and to call in U.S. troops against the express wishes of local and state officials. These actions expanded Washington's power to interfere in the private economy, making the Pullman Strike a watershed event in American economic history.