The Pullman boycott : $b A complete history of the great R. R. strikeBurns, W. F.
History
The Pullman boycott : $b A complete history of the great R. R. strike
Burns, W. F.
Pullman Strike, 1894
Mr. Wright: "Tell us if you know what the cuts in wages were in
departments other than your own."
Mr. Heathcoat: "The freight car builders suffered more than others, but
the commission can find out best by having some one from each department
come before it."
Commissioner Kernan: "Don't the people of Pullman know that we want to
hear from every one that can throw any light on this subject?"
Mr. Heathcoat: "Yes, sir. They understand it but there are lots of them
who have not money to get down here."
Mr. Wright: "Tell us if you can what was the average pay of the
employes, say in April last?"
Mr. Heathcoat: "On a lot of elevated cars on which I worked I made 16
cents per hour, on one car and 15 cents per hour on another, but there
were men working alongside of me who made only four and five cents per
hour. I would say that in January, February and March the mechanic's pay
averaged $1.50 and the laborers' pay $1.30 per day. Some times the
laborers' checks were bigger than the mechanics'."
Commissioner Wright: "Have you any suggestion of a remedy for labor
troubles?"
Mr. Heathcoat: "Yes, sir. The ownership of railroads and banks by the
government would do it. I never heard of a strike in the post-office
department or the navy yard."
Miss Curtis next took the stand. She was an employe of Pullman and
president of the Girls Union of the American Railway Union at Pullman.
Beginning her testimony she said: "In June, 1893, the wages in my
department were 22-1/2 cents per hour, $2.25 a day. In April, 1894, they
were 70 to 80 cents a day. There were two cuts in one week in November
and another in January. In April the best wages any of us could make was
eighty cents a day, while some could not make more than from 40 to 50
cents a day. Last June they could make at least $1.50 per day."
Commissioner Wright: "Do you pay rent?"
Miss Curtis: "Not now. My father worked for the Pullman company thirteen
years, during which time he paid rent. He died last September and as
there was some expense connected with his sickness he owed $60 back
rent. Then I went to work in the repair shop and boarded out. The
company made me pay $3 per week on account of the back rent. I still
owed $15 on the day of the strike and owe it yet. Some weeks I did not
earn enough to pay my board and rent too and then I paid only part of
the $3."
Commissioner Wright: "Were you on any of the committees that waited on
Mr. Pullman and Mr. Wickes?"
Miss Curtis: "Yes, sir. I represented the girls on that committee. We
wanted our wages raised as the men did theirs. Mr. Wickes said it was
impossible to raise wages as they were losing money on their contracts
and it was utterly impossible to reduce rents. An appointment was made
to meet Mr. Pullman on another day. When we saw him he said the same
that Mr. Wickes told us."
Commissioner Kernan: "What work was done in your department?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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