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Strikes Hit the Nation
By Cathy Pearl
Caption: On the cover of Harper's Weekly
July 16, 1892: The Pinkerton men leaving the
barges after the surrender.
Workers wanted better working conditions in
factories. The hours were long and the pay was
low. Some workers fought peacefully for these
rights. Others went on strikes. Many of these
strikes became violent.
In 1877, there was trouble in the railroad
industry. In July, the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad said that they were going to cut the pay
of the workers. This was not the first pay cut.
Workers in Baltimore were not happy. They became violent.
Workers in other cities did the same. The president finally had to
send in federal troops to stop the violence.
Troops shot at rioters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a week after
that. There were men who were killed and wounded. An angry mob
of over 20,000 people reacted. They started to burn things that
belonged to the railroad. Again, the president had to send in troops to
stop what was happening.
After this, businesses relied on the troops to end strikes. There
were more strikes in the coming years. Many of them were violent.
In 1886, workers joined together to fight for a shorter workday.
They thought that it should be no more than eight hours. Again,
workers went on strike.
On May 3 in Chicago, police stopped a fight between striking
workers and replacement workers. Several of the workers were
killed. The next day there was a rally to support workers.
The rally started quietly. Then someone threw a bomb into a
group of policemen. Seven of them were killed. Policemen fired at
the protestors. Four of them were killed.
Police did not ever figure out who threw the bomb. But eight men
were charged with starting the riot and murder. Eventually, four of
them were hanged. One committed suicide. The governor of Illinois
pardoned the other men seven years later.
People had very different views of what happened. Some saw the
rioters as heroes because they were fighting for better rights for
workers. Business owners saw them as troublemakers and murderers.
The public came to associate unions with violence.
One of the worst strikes in history happened in 1892. It was
between steel workers and the Carnegie Steel Company. The union
did not accept that wages were being lowered.
Andrew Carnegie's partner Henry Frick wanted to end the strike.
Frick called in the Pinkertons. The Pinkertons were a group of
private policemen who were known to break up strikes.
Three hundred Pinkertons came. Ten thousand angry workers met
them. Violence soon broke out. Sixteen men were killed. Many
others were injured. The governor sent in troops. Their job was to
protect the replacement workers who were running the plant.
With replacement workers, Frick did not have to deal with the
union. The troops kept the striking workers from attacking these men.
Five months later the union admitted defeat.
The union loss showed just how powerful businesses were. If
workers went on strike, owners hired more men to take their place.
Men could not afford to go that long without working. After a strike,
a worker did not always get his old job back.
One of the last great strikes at this time was the Pullman Strike.
This strike showed how businesses and the government dealt with
unions for the next thirty years.
The strike was between workers and the company that made
sleeping cars for trains. The owner of the company was George
Pullman. After the Panic of 1893, Pullman cut wages. He also laid
off workers.
Workers went to Pullman to tell him how unhappy they were.
Pullman fired three of the men. Workers from the union went on
4. How did many strikes end?
A. Federal troops were sent in.
B. Workers got better working conditions.
C. Business owners agreed to work with unions.
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strike. Pullman then closed the plant.
This led workers from all over the country to go on strike. But the
strike quickly went out of control. Workers almost stopped train
service in the West. Mail could not get through.
5. What did business owners do to keep their companies running
when unions went on strike?
Railroad owners asked for help. The government won a court
order that said the strike could not stop railroad traffic. Federal
troops were sent in to make sure workers followed the order. The
strike ended within a week.
This showed what big business planned to do in the future.
Factory owners asked for help when there was a strike. The
government then helped. These actions weakened the power of
unions for many years.
6. What happened during many strikes?
Strikes Hit the Nation
Questions
1. The government usually supported:
A. Striking workers
B. Big business
2. One thing workers fought for was:
A. Longer workdays
B. Shorter workdays
C. Less pay
3. How long did workers think a workday should be?
A. Ten hours
B. Six hours
C. Eight hours
Were strikes the right thing for workers to do to earn more rights?
Explain your answer.
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Pretend you are a worker. Write a letter to the owner of your
company telling him or her why you want better working conditions.