Remake of Labor Violence Investigation -5 by Keith Layman

Summary

2025-01-31 17:55:20 UTC

Who: Pullman

What: Wage cuts without rent, led by American Railway Union by Eugene Debs

When: May and June of 1894

Where: Chicago Illinois

Why: Pullman had his own company town (to keep his employees out of industrial trouble), costs increased, cut wages for workers, but didn’t lower town prices. WENT ON STRIKE

Summary

manikanthmalineni — 2025-01-31 17:55:34 UTC

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire burned down the New York City facility on March 25th 1911. A swift fire killed 146 employees while they worked at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory mainly composed of young immigrant women. The entrance doors remained locked to stop employees from taking breaks but the factory lacked sufficient fire security systems. The workplace disaster brought attention to unsafe labor practices which resulted in better workplace legislation and congressional labor regulations.

Summary

2025-01-31 17:57:00 UTC

Who: Railroad workers from the Baltimore and Ohio railroad

Why: Workers were upset over low and unfair wages that were a result of the Panic of 1873

What: Workers stopped the movement of trains

Where: Started in Baltimore, Maryland and West Virginia, had also occurred in Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh area)

When: Began July 16, 1877, and ended July 31, 1877

Visual Evidence

2025-01-31 17:57:53 UTC

Visual Evidence

2025-01-31 17:58:10 UTC

Eye Witness Report

2025-01-31 17:58:25 UTC

Eye Witness Report: Barton Simonsim

“ Later on I went back and remained throughout the whole meeting until the bomb had exploded. The speakers were northeast of me in front of Crane Brothers' building, a few feet north of the alley. I remember the alley particularly. As far as I remember Spies' speech, he said: "Please come to order. This meeting is not called to incite any riot."

“In the course of the conversation with Capt. Bonfield at the station before the meeting that night, I asked him about the trouble in the southwestern part of the city. He says: "The trouble there is that these"—whether he used the word Socialist or strikers, I don't know—"get their women and children mixed up with them and around them and in front of them, and we can't get at them. I would like to get three thousand of them in a crowd without their women and children"—and to the best of my recollection he added—"and I will make short work of them."

- Barton Simonsim

Investigation Findings

2025-01-31 17:58:48 UTC

Short term- Violence/deaths between strikers/troops, damaged property, arrests

Long term- Socialist Party is formed

Blame- George Pullman

Investigation Findings

2025-01-31 17:59:01 UTC

A short term effect of the Haymarket Riot was an increase in anti-union sentiment. After the Haymarket Riot, the Knights of Labor declined and disbanded, but the American Federation of Labor became the leader of the trade union movement. Another effect was that Americans began to turn away from radicalism, also leading to increased anti-immigrant sentiment. The Knights of Labor were blamed for the incident at the time.

Summary

2025-01-31 17:59:13 UTC

A labor dispute in 1892 between the Carnegie Steel Company and its workers, specifically in the Homestead Steel Works Steel Plant. The workers were backed by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers. After many wage cuts, the workers shut down the plant and occupied the mill. Henry Clay Frick, the operator of the steel plant, used Pinkerton detectives to try and take the plant back from the workers. When they arrived, conflict arose between the workers and the Pinkerton detectives. After a few hours of conflict, the Pinkerton detectives surrendered, leading the Pennsylvania governor to call in the state militia and end the strike, leading to the demise of the union.

Visual

2025-01-31 17:59:23 UTC

Visual

2025-01-31 17:59:33 UTC

Investigation findings

2025-01-31 17:59:42 UTC

The homestead strike had short term causes of violence, and a major setback of workers in the Unions including iron and steel. Long term impacts included the decline of union workers in all aspects that ultimately created a bad public image for Carnegie because he treated the workers with no respect and equality. In the end, he prioritized profits over paying his workers a fair wage. Carnegie was one of the Robber barns to deserve the blame because of his terrible treatment in his unions.

Investigation Findings

2025-01-31 18:00:17 UTC

Long-term event cause: The Panic of 1873, which cut the wages of workers and since companies had less money overall, also worsened work conditions which caused the strikes to occur.

Who to blame: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company (railroad companies in general)

Visual Evidence

2025-01-31 18:00:44 UTC

Eyewitness Reports

2025-01-31 18:00:47 UTC

Kensington, Ill.,

August 17, 1894.

To His Excellency, the Governor of the State of Illinois:

We, the people of Pullman, who, by the greed and oppression of George M. Pullman, have been brought to a condition where starvation stares us in the face, do hereby appeal to you for aid in this our hour of need. We have been refused employment and have no means of leaving this vicinity, and our families are starving. Our places have been filled with workmen from all over the United States, brought here by the Pullman Company, and the surplus were turned away to walk the streets and starve also. There are over 1600 families here in destitution and want, and their condition is pitiful. We have exhausted all the means at our command to feed them, and we now make this appeal to you as a last resource. Trusting that God will influence you in our behalf and that you will give this your prompt attention, we remain,

Yours in distress,

THE STARVING CITIZENS OF PULLMAN

F. E. POLLANS,

L. J. NEWELL,

THEO. RODHE,

Committee.

Visual Evidence

2025-01-31 18:01:08 UTC

Who, What, When

2025-01-31 18:01:13 UTC

Mine workers in the Ludlow Company Town of Colorado Fuel and Iron Company went on strike in 1913. The strike led to workers and their families being evicted from their homes and forced to live in tents, and eventually culminated in war with the owner's private security. The key event was the massacre of over 200 people in the tent colony, which only ended via federal interference, and was the inspiration for later labor laws.

Eyewitness reports

2025-01-31 18:01:17 UTC

"We met a mob, which blocked the streets, wrote Charles A. Malloy. "They came armed with stones and as soon as we came within reach they began to throw at us." Fully armed and with bayonets fixed, the militia fired, killing 10, including a newsboy and a 16-year-old student. The shootings sparked a rampage. protesters burned a switchtown, a passenger car, and sent a locomotive crashing into a siding full of freight cars. They also cut fire hoses. At the height of the melee in 14,000 rioters took to the streets. Maryland's governor telegraphed President Rutherford Hayes and asked for troops to protect Baltimore. "The strike," an anonymous Baltimore merchant wrote, "is not a revolution of fanatics willing to fight for an idea. It is a revolt of working men against low prices of labor, which have not been accomplished with corresponding low prices of food, clothing and house rent." In Pittsburgh, where the local militia sympathized with the rail workers, the governor called in National Guard troops from Philadelphia. The troops fired into a crowd, killing more than 20 civilians, including women and at least three children.

Visual

2025-01-31 18:01:23 UTC

Visual

2025-01-31 18:01:45 UTC

Eyewitness Report

2025-01-31 18:01:53 UTC

“The floods of water from the firemen's hose that ran into the gutter were actually stained red with blood. I looked upon the heap of dead bodies and I remembered these girls were the shirtwaist makers. I remembered their great strike of last year in which these same girls had demanded more sanitary conditions and more safety precautions in the shops. These dead bodies were the answer.” - William G. Shepherd, 1911; Excerpt from source: https://www.decidedlygrim.net/?p=1819

Investigation Findings

2025-01-31 18:02:58 UTC

Long-term causes: Poor working conditions, especially for children, and low wages

Short-term causes: Coal companies evicted striking miners from company-owning houses, which led to violence erupting

Blame: John D. Rockefeller

Summary

2025-01-31 18:03:27 UTC

Where: Ludlow, Colorado

Why: they wanted enforcement of the eight-hour workday, the right to choose their own housing (they were assigned housing) and doctors, increased wages

Summary

2025-01-31 18:04:09 UTC

In 1886 the Federation of Organized Trade and Labor Unions organized a general strike in order to demand an 8 hour day. The anarchist groups saw an opportunity to gain members, so they joined in on the strike. During this time explosives and bombs became more readily available to an average person leading to an opportunity for great violence. On May 3 and 4th violence began to erupt as bombs were thrown and workers and police officers alike were wounded and killed. Following these events 8 men were arrested and sentenced; these men included foreign workers and anarchist leaders.

Causes

2025-01-31 18:06:07 UTC

The causes of the fire were negligence by the factory owners, not listening to the cries from the laborers earlier for safer working conditions during a strike in 1910.

Eyewitness

2025-01-31 18:08:05 UTC

“Henry Streigle, who had retreated to the top of the hill and was firing at the men on the boat, fell over with a leaden missile in his throat… Then came a conference between the leaders… On behalf of 5,000 men I beg of you to leave here at once… if you remain there will be more bloodshed."

“The mill workers had secured a small cannon and planted it on the hillside.”

“By this time, hundreds of the strikers had received arms; every pile of iron held a sharpshooter watching for a human target.”