Major Labor Fights

Major Labor Fights

The Haymarket Riot- 1886

• May 1st- Chicago workers strike for the 8 hour day• Anarchists and radicals become involved in the

campaign• May 3rd- shooting occurs at McCormick Reaper

plant when strikers and police altercate(2 workers killed)

• May 4th- protest meeting is called for at Haymarket Square (see flyers)

1st Flyer Printed

2nd Flyer Printed

20,000 new copies distributed, but old ones remained

Haymarket Rally

• August Spies and other labor leaders spoke to between 600 and 3000.

• The Chicago Police advanced towards the speaker Samuel Fielden as he was finishing his speech

• A bomb was thrown that led to the death of 7 police officers

• At least 4 demonstrators were killed, 70+ injured

Haymarket Propaganda

The Aftermath

• Labor is attacked and investigated big time• Fear of Anarchists• 8 radicals arrested and 7 get the death penalty

(some for “inflammatory speeches”)• 4 are executed, 1 commits suicide, and 3

others are released on a pardon by Governor Altgeld.

The Haymarket Condemned

The Pullman Strike (1894)

• George Pullman created a “model town” to house workers of his company

• Town outside Chicago had nice parks, library, banks, and homes for workers

• Panic of 1893 lowered demand for luxury railroad cars

• Pullman cut wages of workers but did no lower rent

Pullman Palace Care

Wages, Rent, and Strike

• Wages were cut by 25% while the rent was still 25% higher than normal

• Pullman workers go on strike• The American Railway Union (led by Eugene

Debs) boycotts Pullman cars across the country

The Government

• Strike becomes first real national strike in US history

• President Grover Cleveland sends in federal troops to Illinois against Governor Altgelds wishes

• Presence of federal troops incite violence• Riots occur, troops fire in crowd killing at least

four and wounding many

Pullman Strike

The Result

• The General Managers Association wins• Strike is broken by federal government• Mail delivery is resumed• Eugene Debs is arrested, convicted, and

becomes a Socialist• Pullman workers go back to work for lower

wages