Why Did The Pullman Strike Happen

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Pullman Railroad Strike Why did the Pullman Railroad Strike happen? Pullman strike happened because George Mortimer Pullman, the founder and president of Pullman Palace Car Company. George treated his workers poorly after he knew he could make more money from them. Pullman Palace Car Company was contracted by the railroads to manufacture sleeping cars to be used for people going on long trips across the county. George Pullman was a good boss before he figured out he could make more money if he opened his own town to make the workers live there. “Pullman, Ill., a company town in the suburb of Chicago where he made his 5,000 employees lived. P 123” When George opened Pullman, IL, Chicago charged him a set price for water, gas, sewer etc. “Pullman factory workers were forced to live in Pullman’s model town where they paid rent 20 to 25 percent higher than the rent paid for similar accommodations in Chicago. The cost to the Pullman Company of illuminating gas was only 33 cents a thousand cubic feet but Pullman employees were forced to pay Pullman $2.25 for a thousand cubic feet. Chicago supplied the Pullman Company with water at four …show more content…
Debs. Eugene grown up in Indiana then found his way to Chicago and joined the railroad as a fireman. Eugene and the other workers saw how the conditions were getting worse. Eugene saw how low wages got for other workers. He also saw workers get injured and worse some getting killed on the job because the equipment. Eugene and the other workers know that they needed to demand for better conditions and equipment but nothing changed. Once they started they strike without approval they knew that they need to stop the trains that had any Pullman cars on them to make the company understand that things need to change. Eugene knew that they can’t stop any train that had anything that dealt with the government because the military would jump in and stop the

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