New Britain herald., 1922-08-18
l.OOO R. R. STRIKES
 INLAST 40 YEARS
Workers and Operators at Odds
 Nearly Half a Century

sulting from the strike of the rail-
 way shop crafts spreading to the
 operating hrotherhoods and mainten-
 ance Of way unions develops, 1t prom
 ises to be the climax of nearly 40
 years of intermittent strife between railway workers and operators,
 In that time there have been approximately l,o0o strikes affecting the transportation end of rairoading
 The larger part of these have been local. affecting only one road, or per haps only one division or yard of one road. But approximately q score have been sufficiently widespread seriously to affect the public welfare,
 The workers have lost the major ity of these strikes. A study of rail- road strikes made by the United States commissioner of labor, cover- ing the period from 1881 to 1905, shows the following:
 Number Of strikes, sos. Percentage of successful strikes, 1888. Partial ly successful, l0.56 per cent. Failed, 75.7s per cent
 Probably the most "successfuln strike ever called by the workers was that ordered in the summer of 1916 by the railroad brotherhoods, but which never went into effect.
 Rush Law Through.
 To meet the demands Of the work CTS at that time and forestall what was feared would be a nationwide tieup of transportation, President Wilson addressed a sepcial message to congress and the Adamson law was rushed through house and senate and signed by the president on the day preceding the date the strike was to become effectiv.
 A record of the more important transportation strikes, running back to the historic general strike on the Pennsylvania railroad in 1S77 whict was one of the most violent labor struggles in American history, fol- lows:
 le20-On April 20, strike of switchmen and yardmen in Chicago and other principal railroad centers was called by local leaders. This strike was repudiated by the na- tional officials of the switchmen and yardmen, and branded as outlaw" Action of union leaders in denounc- ing the strike as outlaw quickly broke it. About 25, 900 men were out
 1919-A strike of shop workers in which between 10000 and 5o,o0o men walked out, was called because of dissatisfaction based on claims that wages had not advanced propor- tionately to the cost of living. The strike was called off by union leaders on the promise of the national gov ernment to attempt to bring down the cost of living.
 1909-Switchmen and yardmen on B roads west and north of St. Paul and Duluth struck November 30, for double pay for Sundays, hoa- days and overtime, elimination of age limit and physical examinations Men refused arbitration. Strike was broken.
 19o2-Freight handlers on Chicago roads struck July 13, for increased | wages and recognition of union h. creases in pay granted, but recogni- l tion of union refused.
 19o0-Car repairers and freight handlers on all roads out of Chicago 1 struck for higher wages, May 1. Re- fused. Men were replaced and strike | broken.
 1894-The great Pullman strike" in the Pullman shops at Chicago, May II. This developed into a gen. eral strike and boycott of Pullman cars, in which a total of 100000 men were involved. It was the result of the panic of 1893, following which the Pullman company cut wages 25 per cent, but declined to cut rents on the company houses in which a large | part of its workers lived The strike was called by the American Railway Union. President Cleveland sent | federal troops to Chicago to prevent ! noting. On July 2 a federal court | enjoined workers from influencing men at work to give up jobs. Eu- gene V. Debs and other strike lead CTS were arrested for violation of in- Junction and sntenced to the penl- | tntiary. Strike was broken.
 1S93-The first use of the injunc- fion in labor disputes came in 1893 in the strike of workers on the To. | 1edo, Ann Arbor & Northern Michi- | gan Railway. This strike was called | March 8, the men demanding in- creased wages, reduction of the over- time limit and recognition of the 1 union. Striking engineers were ar, rested, cited for contempt in disobey- in the injunction orders and fined $50. |
 1892. Yard brakemen and switch men on the Lehigh Valley, Erie & Buffalo Creek railways struck August IF, for wage increases. The men of- fered to arbitrate. The railways re- fused. By August 2s men on the | Lackawanna, Nickel Plate, New York Central, West Shore and Lake Shore & Michigan Southern had been drawn | in. The strike was to raise the level of men east of Buffalo to that paid men working west of Buffalo. State militia was called out in Pennsylvania. The strike was broken.
 1S88-s. The famous Burlington strike was called February z7, 1888, by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, as a protest against condi- tons in classification and grading of engineers and flremen. The f1remen went out with the engineers, and ewitchmen joined March 23 A sym pathetic strike was called on the San- ia Fe, which was attempting to handle C., B. & Q. cars. Efforts to produce boycott of the Burlington failed and traflc gradually increased to normal The switchmen called their strike of. December g, and on January r. 1889, the joint committee of engineers and