The Great Railroad

Strike of 1922B Y S T E P H E N K O P P E K I N

Background

During World War One, all railroads in the United States were overseen by the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) which paid workers decent wages and provided for an eight-hour workday.

Following the war, the Railroad Labor Board (RLB) was formed to return control of railroads to their private owners; in 1921, the RLB authorized railroad companies to cut workers' wages, and it approved another round of wage cuts in 1922. 

The StrikeIn response to the wage cuts, seven railroad unions voted to go on strike, and 400,000 workers walked off the job on July 1, 1922.

Railroad companies, with the support of the federal government, brought in strikebreakers to fill the empty jobs. 

Violence often broke out between strikers and strikebreakers as well as company guards and law enforcement officers on the side of the railroad companies.

By the end of the strike, at least ten people had been killed: mostly strikers and their families.

The End of the Strike

Although President Warren G. Harding acknowledged some of the strikers' complaints, in a major blow to the unions, he allowed railroad companies to retain strikebreakers as permanent employees.

Additionally, U.S. Marshalls and National Guard units were deployed to protect strikebreakers and railroadproperty along with company guards (pictured).

In a decisive defeat for the unions, many of the disputes were resolved at a local or regional level rather than through a nationwide settlement.

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