The significance of the Pullman strike of 1894 began because
of the harsh treatment that George Mortimer Pullman of the Pullman Palace Car
Company imposed on his employees. He
paid them low wages, did not allow them own or buy their house made them pay
certain charges. As a result the workers
went on strike. Led by Eugene Debs, they
refuse to pull any of the Pullman cars.
Soon many workers supported the strike that it took an injunction and
the intervention of government troops sent by President Grover Cleveland to end
the strike. Workers fought and destroyed
properties and in the ensuing clash many killed and wounded. Debs was sentenced to six months in
prison. The Pullman strike was
significant because it took an injunction as well as deployment of government
troops to put an end to the strike whereas strikes were usually stopped through
the courts.
