The Pullman Palace Car Company was a train car company founded by George Pullman, who had been designing sleeping cars for trains since the 1850s. Sleeping cars of the time could not compare to that of the Pullman Company. While other sleeping cars were crowded and unsanitary; Pullman’s cars were spacious and featured improved luxuries, such as heating and lighting. The company’s popularity for their sleeping cars grew, and they soon began to produce not only sleeping cars, but also dining and luxury carriages. This growth also resulted in the need for a larger labor force, which led Pullman to establish the town; hoping it would attract workers. The company town of Pullman, Illinois was established near the company, which was located just outside of Chicago, in 1880. By 1894, Pullman was supplying all of the country’s major railroads with “first-class” passenger train cars.
Pullman became widely known for their first-class dining cars
The Workers
Employees of the Pullman Manufacturing Plant
Pullman strove to create a town that could please his workers. He made many provisions for his employees within the town; offering everything from a public school system, churches, and recreational facilities, to good sanitation and paved sidewalks. Workers were however required to live within the town, in order to work for the company. They rented homes that the company supplied at 25% higher rent prices than the surrounding Chicago area. The workers also purchased all home supplies and groceries from company stores, at inflated prices. Though Pullman offered many agreeable conditions within the town, some employees felt that Pullman was exerting too much power over the lives of his workers. For example, Pullman banned alcohol within the town, hoping to better it. Unnecessary control over his workers such as this, angered many of Pullman’s employees, and set the mood for many of his workers to strike even before the largest problems within the company had surfaced. The Problems
While workers wages were slashed, rent prices in Pullman remained high; resulting in worker discontent
When the Panic of 1893 (a national economic panic due to railroad overbuilding) struck, prices for rent and the cost of living in Pullman were already high. The company reacted to the panic by slashing wages, in addition to laying off over 2,000 people, because the demand for their train cars and the company’s revenue dropped. While Pullman dropped the wages by one-fourth, they continued to maintain the same high prices for rent and living costs. The company was providing very little sympathy towards their workers. The employees then created a committee to negotiate these poor wages and conditions, to which Pullman reacted by firing three of the committee’s members, refusing to meet with the committee, and then shutting the plant down. Pullman’s reaction to the workers attempt to negotiate better conditions, only escalated the problem.
American Railroad Union
Eugene Debs, President of the ARU 1893-1897
The American Railroad Union was formed in 1893 to represent and advocate for all white labor employees in the railroad industry. Eugene Debs, a founder of the ARU, served as the president of the union from 1893-1897, during the Pullman strike. The ARU strove to represent employees when in disagreements over unfair wages and worker’s conditions.
The Strike
When Pullman declined to meet with the committee of workers to negotiate the poor conditions, as well as firing members of the committee, workers walked out. They then sought help, and joined the ARU. Eugene V. Debs held a convention to discuss the Pullman labor situation. Jennie Curtis, a seamstress for the Pullman Company, had been a part of a committee which Pullman refused to negotiate with. She also faced severe financial struggle when the company forced her to pay an excessive rent that her deceased father had owed, out of her small wages. Here she addresses the ARU at the convention: “We joined the American Railway Union because it gave us a glimmer of hope. Twenty-thousand souls, men, women, and little ones, have their eyes turned toward this convention today…Pullman, both the man and the town, is an ulcer on the body politic. He owns the houses, the schoolhouse, and the churches of God in the town he gave his once humble name. And, thus, the merry war—goes on; and it will go on, brothers, forever unless you, the American Railway Union, stop it; end it; crush it out. And so I say, come along with us, for decent conditions everywhere!”
Though Debs himself was hesitant to help the strikers, delegates of the committee voted to aid them at the convention. This convention organized a negotiation which gave the Pullman company four days to be willing to compromise, or face a boycott. The Pullman company stood behind their conditions, and the union boycotted. The boycott gained the support of almost 125,000 workers nation-wide, who stopped work on all trains containing Pullman cars. This resulted in huge disorder for the western railroads.
Harper's Weekly cartoon of Railroad strikes
Railroad companies began to suffer due to the numerous local worker strikes across the nation that joined the union’s boycott. The railroad companies began attaching Pullman cars to US mail cars in an attempt to stop the strikes, and capture the attention of the federal government. Against the warning of ARU president Debs to not interfere with mail cars, strikes became almost uncontrollable, and workers continued to boycott trains containing mail carriages. This caught the attention of Attorney General Richard Olney, a former railroad owner. Olney argued in a court case that the strikes were interfering with the mail system, and also referenced the vague Sherman-Antitrust Act, which outlawed trusts that “restrained interstate trade”. Olney contended not that the Pullman company had violated the act (which had been created to prohibit exercises that were monopolistic, such as that in Pullman, Illinois), but that the ARU itself was a trust, which was restraining trade. Here David Brewer, a member of the Kansas Supreme Court, depicts the ruling of the courts in relation to the Pullman strike: “The national government, given by the Constitution power to regulate interstate commerce, has by express statute assumed jurisdiction over such commerce when carried upon railroads. It is charged, therefore, with the duty of keeping those highways of interstate commerce free from obstruction, for it has always been recognized as one of the powers and duties of a government to remove obstructions from the highways under its control.”
Troops assigned to maintain peace in Pullman in 1894
The federal courts announced an injunction, or order to stop, the strike and the actions of the leaders of the ARU. Then President, Grover Cleveland sent in federal troops to enforce the court order, commanding workers to either cease striking, or be arrested. But the strike did not cease until a week after the troops were sent in to enforce the order. In one instance, a train near the Yolo County was derailed by strikers, which resulted in the death of a few soldiers. The troops responded by firing on strikers; injuring over 50 workers, and killing 30. Eugene Debs went to jail for violating the injunction, and the ARU then called off the boycott on August 2nd.
Effects
One of the largest immediate effects of the strike was the huge financial loss it resulted in. The railroad companies on the whole suffered largely.
Cleaning of burned railroad car wreckage from the 1894 strike
The strike was largely unsuccessful for the workers, and the immediate effects were hardly preferable for them. The Pullman workers had to return to their jobs, with low wages and high rent; this response by the railroad companies was common to most of the local strikes that occurred within the ARU boycott. The ARU dissolved shortly after the strike.
President Cleveland’s renomination failed largely due to the public reaction to his responses to the strike. Cleveland’s actions showed the public that the federal government was willing to use forces to combat strikes.
The Pullman strike brought labor problems to American attention. They exposed the labor management problems that dealt with labor vs. capital. The Pullman strike was an example of labor being abused in order to achieve greater capital.
The strike also resulted in an increase in factory owners seeking court orders to combat unions. These court orders were often granted by the federal government, who rejected to legally protect unions at this time. The open opposition to unions by the federal government halted their progression for over 30 years.
Back to Work
W
Returned Workers in 1957
hen workers returned to work after the strike, they were returning to the same poor conditions that they had been protesting. Rents and living costs went unchanged, and long 12-hour work days with low wages remained as well. George Pullman died in 1897, and the state of Illinois insisted upon the separation of the town and the company shortly thereafter. The company continued to thrive and produce numerous sleeper cars for Americans nation-wide. However, the Pullman Company, like many railroad companies, eventually struggled with the emergence of faster and more efficient means of travel such as automobiles and airplanes; and shifted their production line to freight cars. The company’s popularity decreased, and eventually stopped production in 1957.
Curtis, Jennie, and President. "Address to 1894 Convention of American Railway Union." Chicago-Kent College of Law. http://www.kentlaw.edu/ilhs/jennie.htm (accessed May 9, 2010).
Howes, Edward H.. "California HISTORIAN -- Pullman Strike of 1894." California HISTORIAN :: Celebrating California History through the Conference of California Historical Societies. http://www.californiahistorian.com/articles/pullman-strike.html (accessed May 9, 2010).
The Pullman Strike and the Crisis of the 1890s: ESSAYS ON LABOR AND POLITICS (Working Class in American History). Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999.
Pullman Palace Car Company
The Workers
Pullman strove to create a town that could please his workers. He made many provisions for his employees within the town; offering everything from a public school system, churches, and recreational facilities, to good sanitation and paved sidewalks. Workers were however required to live within the town, in order to work for the company. They rented homes that the company supplied at 25% higher rent prices than the surrounding Chicago area. The workers also purchased all home supplies and groceries from company stores, at inflated prices. Though Pullman offered many agreeable conditions within the town, some employees felt that Pullman was exerting too much power over the lives of his workers. For example, Pullman banned alcohol within the town, hoping to better it. Unnecessary control over his workers such as this, angered many of Pullman’s employees, and set the mood for many of his workers to strike even before the largest problems within the company had surfaced.
The Problems
American Railroad Union
The American Railroad Union was formed in 1893 to represent and advocate for all white labor employees in the railroad industry. Eugene Debs, a founder of the ARU, served as the president of the union from 1893-1897, during the Pullman strike. The ARU strove to represent employees when in disagreements over unfair wages and worker’s conditions.
The Strike
When Pullman declined to meet with the committee of workers to negotiate the poor conditions, as well as firing members of the committee, workers walked out. They then sought help, and joined the ARU. Eugene V. Debs held a convention to discuss the Pullman labor situation. Jennie Curtis, a seamstress for the Pullman Company, had been a part of a committee which Pullman refused to negotiate with. She also faced severe financial struggle when the company forced her to pay an excessive rent that her deceased father had owed, out of her small wages. Here she addresses the ARU at the convention:
“We joined the American Railway Union because it gave us a glimmer of hope. Twenty-thousand souls, men, women, and little ones, have their eyes turned toward this convention today…Pullman, both the man and the town, is an ulcer on the body politic. He owns the houses, the schoolhouse, and the churches of God in the town he gave his once humble name. And, thus, the merry war—goes on; and it will go on, brothers, forever unless you, the American Railway Union, stop it; end it; crush it out. And so I say, come along with us, for decent conditions everywhere!”
Though Debs himself was hesitant to help the strikers, delegates of the committee voted to aid them at the convention. This convention organized a negotiation which gave the Pullman company four days to be willing to compromise, or face a boycott. The Pullman company stood behind their conditions, and the union boycotted. The boycott gained the support of almost 125,000 workers nation-wide, who stopped work on all trains containing Pullman cars. This resulted in huge disorder for the western railroads.
Railroad companies began to suffer due to the numerous local worker strikes across the nation that joined the union’s boycott. The railroad companies began attaching Pullman cars to US mail cars in an attempt to stop the strikes, and capture the attention of the federal government. Against the warning of ARU president Debs to not interfere with mail cars, strikes became almost uncontrollable, and workers continued to boycott trains containing mail carriages. This caught the attention of Attorney General Richard Olney, a former railroad owner. Olney argued in a court case that the strikes were interfering with the mail system, and also referenced the vague Sherman-Antitrust Act, which outlawed trusts that “restrained interstate trade”. Olney contended not that the Pullman company had violated the act (which had been created to prohibit exercises that were monopolistic, such as that in Pullman, Illinois), but that the ARU itself was a trust, which was restraining trade. Here David Brewer, a member of the Kansas Supreme Court, depicts the ruling of the courts in relation to the Pullman strike:
“The national government, given by the Constitution power to regulate interstate commerce, has by express statute assumed jurisdiction over such commerce when carried upon railroads. It is charged, therefore, with the duty of keeping those highways of interstate commerce free from obstruction, for it has always been recognized as one of the powers and duties of a government to remove obstructions from the highways under its control.”
Effects
One of the largest immediate effects of the strike was the huge financial loss it resulted in. The railroad companies on the whole suffered largely.
The strike was largely unsuccessful for the workers, and the immediate effects were hardly preferable for them. The Pullman workers had to return to their jobs, with low wages and high rent; this response by the railroad companies was common to most of the local strikes that occurred within the ARU boycott. The ARU dissolved shortly after the strike.
President Cleveland’s renomination failed largely due to the public reaction to his responses to the strike. Cleveland’s actions showed the public that the federal government was willing to use forces to combat strikes.
The Pullman strike brought labor problems to American attention. They exposed the labor management problems that dealt with labor vs. capital. The Pullman strike was an example of labor being abused in order to achieve greater capital.
The strike also resulted in an increase in factory owners seeking court orders to combat unions. These court orders were often granted by the federal government, who rejected to legally protect unions at this time. The open opposition to unions by the federal government halted their progression for over 30 years.
Back to Work
W
References:
" ABC-CLIO Social Studies Databases: Login ." ABC-CLIO Social Studies Databases: Login . http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=21&entryid=445660&searchtext=pullman+strike&type=simple&option=all&searchsites=4,5,6,7,8, (accessed May 9, 2010).
"At Home: 1850: TESTIMONY OF JENNIE CURTIS." Welcome to the Illinois State Museum--Illinois State Museum. http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/athome/1850/voices/curtis/jennie.htm (accessed May 9, 2010).
Curtis, Jennie, and President. "Address to 1894 Convention of American Railway Union." Chicago-Kent College of Law. http://www.kentlaw.edu/ilhs/jennie.htm (accessed May 9, 2010).
Howes, Edward H.. "California HISTORIAN -- Pullman Strike of 1894." California HISTORIAN :: Celebrating California History through the Conference of California Historical Societies. http://www.californiahistorian.com/articles/pullman-strike.html (accessed May 9, 2010).
"Pullman Strike." Spartacus Educational - Home Page. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USApullman.htm (accessed May 9, 2010).
The Pullman Strike and the Crisis of the 1890s: ESSAYS ON LABOR AND POLITICS (Working Class in American History). Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999.
Pictography:
>Photo of Eugene Debs: http://www.chicagohs.org/history/pullman/photos4.html
>Photo of federal troops: http://www.chicagohs.org/history/pullman/photos6.html
>Photo of burned railroad rubble: http://www.chicagohs.org/history/pullman/photos7.html
>Photo of Pullman Manufacturing Plant workers: http://www.chicagohs.org/history/pullman/photos10.html
>Photo of High-rent Pullman homes: http://www.chicagohs.org/history/pullman/pul4.html
>Harper’s Weekly Cartoon: http://www.chicagohs.org/history/pullman/pul6.html
>Photo of returned workers: http://www.chicagohs.org/history/pullman/pul8.html
>First Pullman Sleeping Car: http://www.chicagohs.org/history/pullman/pul1.html
>Photo of Elegant Dining car: http://cruiselinehistory.com/?p=356