Pullman Strike

The Pullman Strike was a nationwide railroad strike in the United States on May 11, 1894. It pitted the American Railway Union (ARU) against the Pullman Company, the main railroads, and the federal government of the United States under President Grover Cleveland. The strike and boycott shut down much of the nation's freight and passenger traffic west of Detroit, Michigan. The conflict began in Pullman, Chicago, on May 11 when nearly 4,000 factory employees of the Pullman Company began a wildcat strike in response to recent reductions in wages.

Most factory workers who built Pullman cars lived in the "company town" of Pullman on the Southside of Chicago, Illinois. The industrialist George Pullman had designed it ostensibly as a model community.George Pullman had a diverse work force. He wanted to hire African-Americans for certain jobs at the company. Pullman would also hire young, single women to run his secretary for him. Pullman pulled off certain ads and other campaigns to help bring work into his company.