497:, commanding the Fourth Brigade, held a full-time position as an agent of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and was determined to crush the strike. Even though more than 8,000 soldiers invested the town, violence continued. As the 65th Regiment detrained 200 soldiers at a Buffalo train station on August 15, an unmanned train loaded with explosives steamed through the station. The explosives detonated, wounding three soldiers. Guard commanders soon found that many railroad tracks in the city had been mined. When trains passed over the tracks, the pressure of the train on the tracks set off the bombs. The striking switchmen claimed that they had not engaged in arson, and that the rail cars which had burned were abandoned. But Gen. Doyle refused to accept either claim. He ordered dozens of strikers imprisoned, and encouraged his troops to deal harshly with any workers who interfered, or seemed about to interfere, with the keeping of the peace.
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after the companies refused to obey the new law. Violence quickly broke out. On August 13, a number of abandoned rail cars were set on fire. The
Buffalo police, sympathetic to the workers' cause, refused to help the railroads break the strike. On August 14, additional rail cars outside the city
525:
to
Buffalo for a meeting. But the August 23 conference was brief: The other unions refused to take their members out on strike. Unable to fight both soldiers and scabs without help, the switchmen ended their strike on August 25, 1892. The switchmen agreed to return to work, but the railroads
538:
Prior to the
Buffalo switchmen's strike, most railroad unions in the United States did not engage in consultation and coordination in order to increase their collective bargaining power. Attempts in 1886 and 1889 to form a federation of rail unions quickly collapsed.
562:
The
Pullman strike also convinced many in the American labor movement that the government was a tool of corporate interests, and that they could no longer openly oppose large corporations. The Pullman strike caused a conservative shift in the
512:
to strike in sympathy. The leaders of the switchmen's union called on other railroad unions to engage in a general strike in support of their job action. The president of the
Switchmen's Mutual Association called the heads of the
545:, national secretary of the Locomotive Firemen, resigned his position a month after the switchmen's strike in order to work full-time on the creation of a national union of railway workers. Debs was successful in forming the
504:. Striking switchmen were beaten by troops and Erie County sheriff's deputies. Troops broke up mass meetings, clubbing workers with the butts of their rifles. The violence led switchmen on the
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The union publicly asserted that none of its members had set fire to the rail cars. It remains unclear whether union members or local hooligans committed the various acts of arson.
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passed a law mandating a 10-hour work-day and increases in the day- and night-time minimum wage. Switchmen in
Buffalo were members of the
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405:. The strike collapsed after two weeks when 8,000 state militia entered the town and other unions refused to support the workers.
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695:
History of the Labor
Movement in the United States: From the Founding of the A.F. of L. to the Emergence of American Imperialism
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But the defeat of the
Buffalo switchmen's union proved to be a powerful lesson in labor unity.
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But the ARU would prove to be short-lived. The union was crushed in the violent
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to restore order and protect the railroads' property. However, State Guard
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swore in a number of special deputies but was unable to stop the arson.
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The strike began to collapse. The railroads brought in hundreds of
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in August 1892 by railroad workers employed by three railroads in
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New York statute requiring minimum wage increases and limiting
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727:(5): 427ā432 – via AAF of Los Angeles Digital Archive.
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697:(2nd ed.). New York: International Publishers, Co.
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Tifft Farm, 16th
Separate Co. Buffalo, N.Y. August 1892
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Rail transportation labor disputes in the United States
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744:(431): 407ā418 – via Cornell University Library.
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To force railroad companies to comply with the NY law
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555:of 1894. The union's collapse pushed Debs toward
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567:from which the labor body has not emerged.
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665:
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506:New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad
790:Rail transportation in New York (state)
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434:limits were set ablaze. The sheriff of
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82:railroad companies blacklisted strikers
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711:
641:
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466:National Guard called to stop strike.
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732:Voorhees, Theodore (October 1892).
714:"The New York State National Guard"
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815:1890s strikes in the United States
785:Labor disputes in New York (state)
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519:Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
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456:
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775:1892 labor disputes and strikes
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523:Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen
355:Patco (air traffic controllers)
712:Hardin, E.E. (February 1895).
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419:Switchmen's Mutual Association
98:Switchmen's Mutual Association
1:
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810:History of Buffalo, New York
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565:American Federation of Labor
7:
805:United Transportation Union
515:Order of Railway Conductors
10:
831:
415:New York state legislature
395:Buffalo switchmen's strike
24:Buffalo switchmen's strike
780:1892 in the United States
693:Foner, Philip S. (1975).
510:New York Central Railroad
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138:+8,000 NY State Guardsmen
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60:
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28:
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257:Illinois Central shopmen
56:days to 10 hours of work
759:Organized labour portal
800:1892 in rail transport
547:American Railway Union
431:Buffalo Creek Railroad
423:Lehigh Valley Railroad
312:NYC teamsters truckers
226:New Orleans waterfront
115:Buffalo Creek Railroad
105:Lehigh Valley Railroad
738:North American Review
530:most of the workers.
379:Montreal longshoremen
306:Minneapolis teamsters
300:West Coast waterfront
263:West Coast waterfront
196:Great Railroad Strike
734:"The Buffalo strike"
534:Impact of the strike
488:New York State Guard
409:Events of the strike
318:Vancouver waterfront
549:(ARU) in June 1893.
413:In early 1892, the
361:SEPTA Regional Rail
324:Gulf Coast maritime
281:Portland waterfront
680:, pp. 253ā54.
668:, pp. 411ā14.
656:, pp. 409ā13.
644:, pp. 428ā29.
275:Seattle waterfront
32:August 12ā25, 1892
492:Brigadier General
484:Roswell P. Flower
403:Buffalo, New York
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269:NYC Harbor Strike
251:New Orleans Levee
245:Chicago teamsters
220:Buffalo switchmen
180:Transport strikes
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208:Great Southwest
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553:Pullman strike
543:Eugene V. Debs
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502:strikebreakers
495:Peter C. Doyle
476:On August 15,
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342:Longshoremen
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642:Hardin 1895
528:blacklisted
436:Erie County
349:1980sā2000s
330:NYC tugboat
294:1930sā1970s
239:1900sā1920s
79:Resulted in
54:switchmen's
769:Categories
678:Foner 1975
615:Foner 1975
591:References
478:Democratic
214:Burlington
596:Footnotes
557:Socialism
202:Camp Dump
49:Caused by
521:and the
481:Governor
429:and the
37:Location
87:Parties
69:Methods
721:Outing
701:
517:, the
425:, the
399:strike
367:Pan Am
126:Number
717:(PDF)
571:Notes
190:1800s
61:Goals
699:ISBN
393:The
381:2020
375:1997
369:1985
363:1983
357:1981
344:1971
338:1970
336:USPS
332:1946
326:1936
320:1935
314:1938
308:1934
302:1934
289:1922
283:1922
277:1919
271:1919
265:1916
259:1911
253:1907
247:1905
234:1894
228:1892
222:1892
216:1888
210:1886
204:1882
198:1877
29:Date
742:155
373:UPS
112:and
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740:.
736:.
725:25
723:.
719:.
634:^
603:^
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707:.
172:e
165:t
158:v
107:,
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