# data[].attributes.body
Eugene V. Debs found himself leading one of the largest strikes in American history - The Pullman Strike. When the workers of the Pullman Car Company refused to take a pay cut the business fired 5000 employees.  To show support, Debs told the members of the American Railway Union to refrain from operating any trains that used Pullman cars. When the strike was declared illegal by a court injunction, all hell broke loose. President Cleveland sent federal troops to put an end to the strike and Debs had been arrested. Unfortunately, the strike had failed. Debs hadn't originally been a socialist. But after the strike and his six-month jail term led him to believe drastic action was necessary. In 1900 he ran for President as a socialist got about 87,000 votes. The following year, leading sympathizers joined with him to form the Socialist Party. At its peak, the party numbered over 100,000 members.  Debs ran for President four more times. In the election of 1912, he received over 900,000 votes. After being arrested for anti-war activities during World War I, he ran for President from his jail cell and polled 919,000 votes. Debs had died in 1926, never winning an election. However, bover one thousand Socialist Party members were elected to state and city governments.

# data[].attributes.body
In December of 1886, the year the KOL dissolved after the Haymarket Square bombing Samuel Gompers met with the leaders of other craft unions to create the AFL (American Federation Of Labor). The AFL was a loose grouping of smaller craft unions, such as the masons' union, the hat makers' union or Gompers's own cigar makers' union. Which made everyone a skilled worker. Gompers knew that the AFL would have more power, politically and economically if unskilled workers stayed out of the mix. He was the president of the union all the way up to his death. Gompers was not afraid to issue a strike or a boycott. By refusing to pursue a radical program for political change, Gompers maintained the support of the American government and public. By 1900, there had been over 500,000 tradespeople in the ranks. Although the bosses still had the upper hand with the government, unions were growing in size and status. There had been over 20,000  in the last two decades of the 19th century. And about half had been lost, but in most cases, their demands were fully or partially met. The A.F. of L. served as the preeminent national labor organization until the Great Depression when unskilled workers finally came together.

# data[].attributes.body
By 1866, there were about 200,000 workers in local unions across the United States. William Sylvis created the first nationwide labor organization, he named it the NLU (National Labor Union). The NLU fought for higher wages and shorter hours. Sylvis also took labor activity to a political level. The National Labor Union fought for banning prison labor and much more. The NLU brought together skilled and unskilled workers, as well as farmers. The NLU stopped short of admitting African Americans.  When the Panic of 1873 hit America, the union was severely disabled. Soon after, the National Labor Union withered away. The KOL (Knight Of Labor) soon became the mantle of organized labor. Started by Uriah Stephens as a secret society  the KOL took in everyone into their ranks, including women and African Americans. In order for the group to influence someone as big as the federal government, they would need complete solidarity. The KOL stood for everything the NLU did and more.  They advocated limits on immigration, restrictions on child labor, and government ownership of railroads, telegraphs, and telephones. At the peak of its membership in 1886, the KOL had 750,000 workers. But everything went downhill after the Haymarket Square bombing. After the bombing their numbers dissolved.

# data[].attributes.body
Owners had ways to fight back. For example, they would enact a lockout, which is almost like a reverse strike. In a lockout, the owner will tell the workers not to show up if they do not agree to a pay cut. And sometimes when a new worker was hired they would be forced to sign a yellow-dog contract. A yellow-dog contract is an agreement saying they will not join a union. Strikes could be countered by hiring strikebreakers or "Scabs". A strikebreaker would be a filler for an employee. Here is where things got violent. If someone were to "Cross The Picketline" the striking workers often responded with fists, occasionally even leading to death. Prior to the 20th century, the government never sided with the union in a labor dispute. Bosses and owners tried to make the court declare that a strike was illegal. When all these efforts failed to break a strike, the government would be willing to send a militia to regulate.

# data[].attributes.body
The most used technique across the workers was the strike. Strikes would force the company to suffer great financial loss which in return would make the company meet their demands. Most strikes hadn't been successful so workers thought of other techniques. If a company could garner enough sympathy from the local townspeople a boycott would be put in place. A boycott would make it so no one would buy a product from that company until they met their demands. Boycotts would usually be successful in small communities. If workers became desperate enough they would resort to illegal means. For example, they would sabotage factory equipment.

# data[].attributes.body
The Martinsburg strike sparked something way bigger than expected. The movement spread into Pennsylvania, workers from the Pennsylvania and Reading Railroads joined in. The police, the National Guard, and the United States Army fought with upset and angry mobs throughout America. The wealthy feared the worst had come. A very violent revolution had been sweeping the nation. But then it had stopped. The strikes were ended by force. Or the strikers just gave up. They weren't trying to overthrow the government they just wanted higher wages and to spend more time with their families.

# data[].attributes.body
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company issued a 10% pay reduction. When they ordered this second reduction in less than eight months, workers in Martinsburg, West Virginia said they had enough. On July 16, 1877, the workers took all the train engines to the roundhouse and stated that no train would be leaving until the owners gave them back their pay. All the townspeople met up at the railyard to show their support for the strikers. The mayor of Martinsburg tried to threaten the workers but they just booed at him. The governor sent units of the National Guard to Martinsburg so they could take back the trains by force. It had resulted in two deaths. After two people were killed the Guard put down their weapons and began talking to the crowd. When federal troops were sent by President Hayes the trains finally left the station. However, they were sabotaged and had been harassed by the strikers and ended in only one train making it to their destination.

# data[].attributes.body
Labor unions were started because the conditions that they had worked in were so awful. They had to work 10 hours a day for six days a week just to make enough money to scrape by. Kids as young as eight worked so long that it had kept them from going to school. Men and women had worked until their bodies could not stand the abuse anymore and eventually retired without any benefits. And if you were injured on the job you would not get any form of compensation. Bosses would often intimidate their workers and would sometimes use violence to stop them from existing.