USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -… that began in 1893, the Pullman Palace Car Company, a manufacturer of railroad cars, cut the already low wages of its workers by about 25 percent but did not introduce corresponding reductions in rents and other charges at Pullman, its company town near Chicago, where most Pullman workers lived.

Detailed explanation-2: -In protest, Pullman workers walked off the job on May 11, 1894. The American Railway Union agreed to assist Pullman workers. Switchmen who were members of the ARU refused to handle Pullman cars, which disrupted the rail network. This initial boycott led to widespread strikes among the nation’s railroad workers.

Detailed explanation-3: -On January 1, 1969, the Pullman Company was dissolved and all assets were liquidated. (The most visible result on many railroads, including Union Pacific, was that the Pullman name was removed from the letterboard of all Pullman-owned cars.)

Detailed explanation-4: -The federal government obtained an injunction against the union, Debs, and other boycott leaders, ordering them to stop interfering with trains that carried mail cars. After the strikers refused, President Grover Cleveland ordered in the Army to stop the strikers from obstructing the trains.

Detailed explanation-5: -With the government working to the General Managers’ Association’s ends, Debs felt the only way to force the Pullman Company into arbitration was reaching out to other labor groups to join in a general strike, but his efforts did not succeed. The boycott dissolved in mid-July, and the ARU was defeated.