The Pullman Strike

Labor Dispute Issues and Outcome Railway Strike of 1877 Haymarket Riot (1886) Pullman Strike (1894) Lawrence Textile Strike (1912) The Haymarket Riot The Haymarket Riot on 4 May 1886 in Chicago, Illinois is the origin of international May Day observances and in popular literature inspired the caricature of "a bomb- throwing anarchist." The causes of the incident are still controversial, although deeply polarized attitudes sep- arating the business and working communities in late 19th century Chicago are generally acknowledged as having precipitated the tragedy and its aftermath. Strike at the McCormick Reaper Plant On May 1, 1886, labor unions organized a strike for an eight-hour work day in Chicago. By 21st century standards, working conditions in the city were miserable, with most workers working ten to twelve hour days, often six days a week under sometimes dangerous conditions. On May 3 striking workers met near the McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. plant. Chicago police attacked the strikers without warning, killing two, wounding several others and sparking outrage in the city's working community. Local anarchists distributed fliers calling for a rally at Haymarket Square, then a bustling commercial center. These fliers alleged police had murdered the strikers on behalf of business interests and urged workers to seek justice. One flier insisted they fight back with weapons: To arms, we call you, to arms! However, few copies of this version are known to have been distributed. Rally at the Haymarket Square The rally began peacefully under a light rain on the evening of May 4. Anarchist leader August Spies spoke to the large crowd while standing in an open wagon on a side street. According to many witnesses Spies said he was not there to incite any- one. Meanwhile a large number of on-duty police officers watched from nearby. The crowd was so calm that Mayor Carter Harrison, Sr. who had stopped by to watch, walked home early. Some time later the police ordered the rally to disperse and began marching in formation towards the speakers' wagon. A lit, fused bomb whistled over the heads of onlookers, landed near the police line and exploded, killing a policeman, Mathias J. Degan (seven other policemen later died from their injuries). The police immediately opened fire on the crowd, injuring dozens. Many of the wounded were afraid to visit hospitals for fear of being arrested. A total of eleven people died. Trial, Executions, and Pardons Eight people connected directly or indirectly with the rally and its anarchist organisers were charged with Degan's murder. Five were German immigrants while a sixth was of German descent. In their trial, the prosecution never offered evidence connecting any of the defendants with the bombing but argued that the person who had thrown the bomb had been incited to do so by the defendants, who as a result were equally responsible. The jury returned guilty verdicts for all eight defendants, with death sentences for seven. The sentencing sparked more outrage in labor circles, resulted in protests around the world and made the defendants international political celebrities and heroes. Meanwhile the press had published often sensationalized accounts and opinions about the incident which tended to polarize public reaction. For example, journalist George Frederic Parsons wrote a piece for the Atlantic Monthly articulating the fears of middle-class Americans concerning labor radicalism and asserting the belief that workers had only themselves to blame for their troubles. After the appeals had been exhausted Illinois Governor Richard James Oglesby commuted two of the convicts to sentences to life in prison. On the eve of his scheduled execution one prisoner committed suicide in his cell using a smuggled dynamite cap, which he reportedly held in his mouth like a cigar (the blast blew off half his face and he survived in agony for several hours). The next day, November 11, 1887, the other four were hanged together before a public audience. August Spies was widely quoted as having said, "The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today." Witnesses reported that the condemned did not die when they dropped, but strangled to death slowly, a sight which left the audience visibly shaken. On June 26, 1893 Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld signed pardons for the three convicts serving prison sentences, after having concluded all eight defendants were innocent (the pardons signalled his own political end). The police commander who ordered the dispersal was later convicted of unrelated corruption. The bomb thrower was never identified, although some anarchists privately indicated they had later learned his identity but kept quiet to avoid further violence and death. The trial is often referred to by scholars as one of the most serious miscarriages of justice in United States history. The Pullman Strike The Pullman Strike occurred when 3,000 Pullman Palace Car Company workers went on a wildcat strike in Illinois on May 11, 1894. Owner George Pullman was a "welfare capitalist" who hoped to prevent labor discontent, but was not willing to grant high wages. Pullman housed his workers in a company town by Lake Calumet (Pullman, Chicago) in what is today Chicago's far South Side. Instead of living in utilitarian tenements like other industrial workers of the day, Pullman workers lived in attractive company- The Town of Pullman owned houses, with indoor plumbing, gas, and sewers. However the luxuries of this supposed utopia came at a cost — workers for Pullman lived in a "company town" where everything was owned by the corporation, including their housing and local store. The Pullman Company controlled every aspect of their lives, and practiced "debt slavery," which kept workers under de facto contract by maintenance of large debts to the company store and to their "landlord," the Pullman Company itself. Money owed was automatically deducted from workers' paychecks and frequently workers would never see their earnings at all. During the major economic downturn of the early 1890s, George Pullman cut wages between 25% and 40%, without an equivalent decrease in rent and other expenses. Discontented workers joined the American Railway Union (ARU), led by Eugene Debs, and decided to stage a strike. The strike effectively shut down production in the Pullman factories and led to a lockout. Many supply routes were cut off when railroad workers blocked Pullman cars (and subsequently Wagner Palace cars) from moving in the ensuing nationwide sympathy strike. On July 5th, the buildings of the World's Columbian Exposition around the Court of Honor were torched. Buildings caught in the blaze included the administration’s hall, the manufacturer's hall, the electricity hall, the machinery hall, the mining hall, the agricultural hall, and the fair's train station. With a historic use of an injunction, the strike was eventually broken up by United States Marshals and some 2,000 United States Army troops, commanded by Nelson Miles, sent in by President Grover Cleveland on the basis that the strike interfered with the delivery of U.S. Mail. By the end of the strike 13 strikers were killed and 57 were wounded. An estimated $80 million worth of property was damaged, and Eugene Debs was found guilty of interfering with the mail and sent to prison. At the time of his arrest, Debs was not a Socialist. However, when he was jailed for obstructing the mail, he read the works of Karl Marx and after his release in 1895 became the leading Socialist figure in America, running for President for the first of five times in 1900. Eugene Debs President of the American Railway Union The Lawrence Textile Strike In the early part of the 20th century, Lawrence, Massachusetts, was one of the most important textile towns in the United States. Its principal mills were those of the American Woolen Company whose yearly output was worth $45,000,000. The woolen and cotton mills employed over 40,000 people. Many of these were foreign-born immigrants on low-wages. It was estimated that about 50 per cent of Lawrence's textile workers were women and children aged under eighteen. A study by Dr. Elizabeth Shapleigh discovered that: "A Strikers in Lawrence, Massachusetts considerable number of the boys and girls die within the first two or three years after beginning work. Thirty-six out of every 100 of all the men and women who work in the mill die before or by the time they are twenty-five years of age." In January 1912 the America Woolen Company reduced the wages of its workers. This caused a walk-out and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), who had been busy recruiting workers into the union, took control of the dispute. The IWW formed a strike committee with two representatives from each of the nationalities in the industry. It was decided to demand a 15 per cent increase in wages, double-time for overtime work and a 55 hour week. The mayor of Lawrence called in the local militia and attempts were made to stop the workers from picketing. Thirty-six of the workers were arrested and most of them sentenced to a year in prison. Money was collected throughout America to help the strikers. One of the IWW's leading figures, Arturo Giovannitti, arrived in Lawrence to help organize relief. A network of soup kitchens and food distribution stations were set up and striking families received from $2 to $5 cash a week. Bill Haywood, Carlo Tresca and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn of the Industrial Workers of the World now arrived in Lawrence and took over the running of the strike. Dynamite was found in Lawrence and newspapers accused strikers of being responsible.

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