Pullman Strike of 1894

a major strike in the USA involving railroad workers. It began on May 11 at plants of the Pullman Palace Car Company in a suburb of Chicago. The workers demanded the restoration of their original wages, which had been cut sharply by 25 to 40 percent at the beginning of the year. The American Railway Union, led by E. Debs, called the strike. By the end of June, a sympathy strike involving more than 150,000 workers had swept the country. President Cleveland sent troops in to suppress the strike, and martial law was imposed in a number of states. However, it was only in July 1894, after mass arrests and the institution of court proceedings against the strike leadership, that the strike was suppressed. The position taken by S. Gompers and other leaders of the American Federation of Labor, who refused to support the striking workers, contributed to the defeat of the Pullman strike.