Labor Day …
Several serious economic depressions took place in the United States during the late 1800’s. One of them, the Panic of 1893, was marked by a series of bank failures which was caused by shaky railroad financing and railroad overbuilding. During this economic depression, the Pullman Palace Car Company cut their employee wages to offset the decreased demand for their train cars and plummeting company revenue.
A delegation of railroad workers attempted to speak with George Pullman, the owner of the company. The workers wanted to express their angst over the sixteen hour days they were working, the low wages they were receiving, and the company’s failure to decrease housing rentals or the price on shopping items in company stores. Mr. Pullman declined to talk with the delegation. This set off a series of events which effectively shut down production in the Pullman factories and created employee lockouts.
The organized strike received support and sympathy from the entire American Railway Union. Over 125,000 railroad workers from almost thirty companies quit work rather than handle the switching and maintenance on Pullman cars. Some companies began hiring replacement workers, which increased hostilities between railroad workers and railroad companies. African-Americans, who already experienced racism in the labor market, crossed the picket line. This increased national attention and added racial division to the ugly mix of protest, hardship, and violence occurring throughout the fledgling nation.
President Grover Cleveland declared that the strike represented a threat to public safety since it interfered with U.S. Mail delivery and violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. Over 12,000 United States Army troops and U.S. Marshals were called in to end the strike. 13 railroad workers were killed, 57 more were wounded, and an estimated $8 million of railroad property (in today’s dollars) was destroyed. The strike ended on August 3rd.
President Cleveland and Congress determined that reconciliation with organized labor become a top priority. Labor Day, as a federal holiday, became law in 1984. Legislation for the holiday was pushed through Congress six days after the strike had ended.
