1. Labor Union Activities
During the Gilded Age

2. What is a labor union?
A group of workers demanding improved working conditions and pay.

3. 1886 Haymarket Riot McCormick Reaper plant in Chicago.
Strike led by Knights of Labor
Days of striking led to a riot.
A bomb was thrown, killed dozens.
4 men executed.

4. 1892 Homestead Strike Carnegie Steel Plant Pinkertons attack strikers.
Pinkertons=private police hired by business owners
President Cleveland sends troops.
10 dead, 60 wounded.

5. The Pullman Strike
Chicago 1894

6. Pullman Palace Car Company
Railway car company owned by George Pullman
Over 6,000 workers
Workers lived in “company town”
Rent was 25% higher than other areas
Interior of a Pullman Sleeper Car

7. Reasons for the Strike Historical Context: Depression of 1893
Pullman cut workers’ wages but didn’t cut rent for apartments
On May 10, 1894, workers walked out of their factory

8. ARU Supports Pullman Workers
American Railway Union was a national union of railway workers
Eugene Debs, ARU leader, decided to support Pullman strikers
Across the nation, railway workers refused to run trains that had Pullman cars attached to them
The country was paralyzed

9. Eugene Debs
Eugene V. Debs, the rail union president at the time of the strike, later campaigned as the American Socialist presidential candidate

10. President Grover Cleveland sends in troops

11. Violence Erupts Presence of federal troops set off riots
Rioters burned buildings
Troops killed 4 people and wounded 20

12. End of Strike By August the strike fell apart
1000 union workers were fired
New workers had to sign contracts promising not to join a union
Debs was arrested and jailed for 6 months

13. Why did labor unions’ efforts fail during the Gilded Age?