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Set a (Original) SET A (ORIGINAL) CHICAGO TIMES, MAY 12, 1894 PULLMAN MEN OUT Nearly 4,000 Throw Down Their Tools and Quit Refuse to Work Till Wrongs are Righted Firing Three Men Starts It Almost the entire force of men employed in the Pullman shops went out on strike yesterday. Out of the 4,800 men and women employed in the various departments there were probably not over 800 at work at 6 o’clock last evening. The immediate cause of the strike was the discharge or laying off of three men in the iron machine shop. The real but remote cause is the question of wages over which the men have long been dissatisfied and on account of which they had practically resolved to strike a month ago. The strike of yesterday was ordered by a committee of forty-six representing every department at the Pullman works. This committee was in session all night Thursday night, and finally came to the conclusion to order a strike 4:30 o’clock yesterday morning. The vote stood 42 in favor of a strike and 4 against. The terms upon which the men insist before returning to work are the restoration of the wage scale of 1893, time and one-half for overtime, and no discrimination against any of those who have taken a prominent part in the strike. The position of the company is that no increase in wages is possible under the present conditions…. The position of the men is that they are receiving less than a living wage, to which they are entitled…. President George M. Pullman told the committee that the company was doing business at a loss even at the reduced wages paid the men and offered to show his books in support of his assertion. Pullman Strike SET A (ORIGINAL) CHICAGO TRIBUNE, MAY 12, 1894 PULLMEN OUT LAY OFFS THE CAUSE Committeemen Laid Off and Their Comrades Act Two thousand employees in the Pullman car works struck yesterday, leaving 800 others at their posts. This was not enough to keep the works going, so a notice was posted on the big gates at 6 o’clock saying: “These shops closed until further notice.” Mr. Pullman said last night he could not tell when work would be resumed. The American Railway Union, which has been proselyting for a week among the workmen, announces that it will support the strikers. Just exactly how, Vice- President Howard would not say. He intimated, however, that the trainmen on the railways on which are organized branches of the union might refuse to handle any of the Pullman rolling stock. It is not believed, however, that such action will be taken and it is equally impossible to see how the union can otherwise aid the strikers. The walk-out was a complete surprise to the officials…. Mr. Pullman had offered to allow the men the privilege of examining the books of the company to verify his statement that the works were running at a loss. When the men quit work at 6 o’clock Thursday evening none of them had any idea of striking. But the Grievance Committee of Forty-six held a session at the Dewdrop Saloon in Kensington until 4:30 o’clock in the morning. At that time a ballot was taken which resulted: 42 to 4 in favor of the strike. A second ballot was unanimous. So a messenger was sent to the freight car builders to order them to stop, and all seventy-five walked out of the big gate. One department at a time, the men went out so that by 10 o’clock 1500 men were out. Thirteen hundred and fifty men kept at work until noon, but only 800 came back after lunch. Included among the strikers were 400 girls from the laundry, sewing-rooms, and other departments. In the afternoon, everyone—men, women, and children—put on their best clothes and assembled on the ball grounds. They stood in groups or rolled around in the grass, making no demonstration and acting in a subdued manner. Pullman Strike SET B (ORIGINAL) CHICAGO TIMES, JUNE 28, 1894 NOT A WHEEL TURNS IN THE WEST Complete Shutdown of All Roads in the Territory Beyond the Missouri River Chicago Center of Eastern Trouble It May Be the Biggest Tie-Up in All History All the western half of the United States has begun to feel the paralysis of the American Railway Union’s boycott of Pullman. From the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast, from the Canadian to the Mexican line, there is scarcely a railway that has not been gripped by the boycott. At every important division point in the west, southwest, and northwest, there are trains blockaded because the American Railway Union men will not run them with Pullman cars attached and the railway managers will not allow them to run otherwise. Some roads are absolutely and utterly blockaded, others feel the embargo slightly yet, but it grows in strength with every hour. It is spreading eastward from Chicago, too. No man can tell what the end will be….This is the end of the second day. This, when so far the American Railway Union has done little beyond ordering the withdrawal of switching crews, switch tenders, and towermen. By tomorrow, they promise that all conductors, engineers and firemen on freight and passenger trains will join in the strike and then, well, nobody can tell. General Manager Ainsley of the Wisconsin Central notified his men that unless they go to work today he will supply their places with nonunion men. Then there may be trouble…. The six o’clock train on the Great Western started out with two Pullman sleepers and one Pullman diner. It ran about two car lengths. The conductor rang the bell, the train stopped, the whole crew got down and cut off those three cars. This with a squad of policemen standing by and the company’s officials looking on. The train pulled out without the Pullmans. It was the most decisive thing the boycotters have done yet. Pullman Strike SET B (ORIGINAL) CHICAGO TRIBUNE, JUNE 26, 1894 DEBS IS A DICTATOR His Warfare on the Railroads is Waged Effectively The American Railway Union became aggressive yesterday in its efforts to force a settlement between Mr. Pullman and his striking employees. By calling out their switchmen, it threw down the gauntlet to the Erie, Grand Trunk, Monon, Eastern Illinois, Morthern Pacific, Wisconsin Central, Chicago Great Western, Baltimore and Ohio, Pan-Handle, and Santa Fe railroads. It continued the warfare commenced the night before against the Illinois Central and continued it so successfully that the road had to abandon its suburban service at 9 o’clock. Its freight service was at a standstill all day and the same is practically true of other roads. In no case, however, did the strikers prevent the departure of any regular passenger trains from Chicago…. Deb’s master stroke, however, occurred at midnight, when every employee on the Santa Fe belonging to the American Railway Union was ordered out. Whether the men will obey the mandate will be learned today. So far no marked violence has been attempted. Two hundred policemen put in the day in various railroad yards, but their services were not needed. Chief Brennan says he has 2,000 men who can be massed at any point inside of an hour. Pullman Strike SET C (ORIGINAL) CHICAGO TIMES, JULY 7, 1894 MEN NOT AWED BY SOLDIERS MOST OF THE ROADS AT A STANDSTILL Railway Union is Confident of Winning Against Armed Capital Despite the presence of United States troops and the mobilization of five regiments of state militia, despite threats of martial law and total extermination of the strikers by bullet, the great strike inaugurated by the American Railway Union holds three-fourths of the roads running out of Chicago in its strong fetters, and last night traffic was more fully paralyzed than at any time since the inception of the tie-up….With the exception of an occasional car or two moved by the aid of the military, not a wheel is turning…. In the southwest section of the city all railroad property is considered fair game for the attack of the mob. Apparently the police o this district think so, too, for they stand by and appear indifferent to the annihilation of property. Wholesale destruction by incendiarism yesterday succeeded to the train wrecking of the day previous….Nothing pertaining to the railroads seems sacred to the crowd. A splendid new towerhouse, which operates the Pan-Handle’s intricate interlocking switches…was only spared yesterday through the efforts of a party of striking tower operators of the railroad…. The strikers saw there was danger of the fire spreading from a burning toolhouse nearby, a plank walk connecting the two. They tore this sidewalk up and thus saved the towerhouse…. If the soldiers are sent to the southwest section of the city, bloodshed and perhaps death will follow today, for this is the most lawless element in the city, as is shown by their riotous work yesterday. But the perpetrators are not American Railway Union men. The people engaged in this outrageous work of destruction are not strikers, most of them are not even grown men. The persons who set the fires yesterday are young hoodlums….The setting fire to the cars yesterday was done openly where anyone could see it and when the slightest effort would have resulted in the apprehension of the guilty ones, but no such effort was made. The firemen were overwhelmed with the work of attending to a dozen different fires and could not, and the police on the scene apparently didn’t care to or would not make arrests….At six o’clock, the police had not a single prisoner.
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