St. Louis Streetcar Strike of 1900
Encyclopedia
The St. Louis Streetcar Strike of 1900 was a labor
action, and resulting civil disruption
, against the St. Louis Transit Company by a group of three thousand workers unionized by the Amalgamated Street Railway Employees of America
.
Between May 7 and the end of the strike in September, 14 people had been killed, and 200 wounded.
Under pressure of long hours, low pay, and poor working conditions, the employees of both lines attempted to unionize as Local 131. Whitaker fired his 3,300 workers summarily and was soon running streetcars only with the help of the St. Louis Police Department
, who had volunteered up to a thousand men for that duty.
Strikers sought to disrupt service by cutting cables, lighting bonfires, and piling boulders, rubble, and other obstructions onto the tracks. St. Louis had significant union membership, and many working-class citizens shut down the lines in their own neighborhoods in solidarity.
On May 29 Whitaker's own attorney wrote to a local labor commissioner lamenting the increasing lawlessness in the city:
The Police Board swore in 2,500 citizens in a posse comitatus
commanded by a local realty agent
, John H. Cavender, who had played a similar paramilitary
role in the bloody 1877 Saint Louis general strike
. On the evening of June 10, men of that posse fatally shot three strikers returning from a picnic
, leaving 14 others wounded. A dozen or more eyewitnesses
disputed the sheriff's statement that they'd been armed
. For their part the strikers made three unsuccessful attempts to dynamite
the housing for the temporary workers in the car barns at Easton and Prairie Avenues. On July 2, Whittaker signed an agreement to take back the workers and let them unionize, but then reneged on the deal.
But the strike indirectly led to the "sensational exposures of the boodle ring". A young lawyer named Joseph W. Folk
represented the striking workers in the settlement, was soon working as the city prosecutor pursuing the city's corrupt Democratic boss Edward Butler, and by 1904 was Governor of Missouri. The same spirit of reform saw the election of Mayor Rolla Wells
on a reform platform, and an expose of St. Louis corruption by Lincoln Steffens
published in McClure's
in 1902 (later collected in The Shame of the Cities
), said to be the first example of muckraking journalism.
Whitaker thrived as a St. Louis businessman—in 1910 he became president of Boatmen's Bank
.
Similar streetcar labor actions with similar results happened in Cleveland in 1899 and Indianapolis in 1913. St. Louis streetcar workers would strike again in 1918.
Wage labour
Wage labour is the socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer, where the worker sells their labour under a formal or informal employment contract. These transactions usually occur in a labour market where wages are market determined...
action, and resulting civil disruption
Disruption
Disruption is the interruption of normal work or practice.*In Scotland, the Disruption of 1843 refers to the divergence from the Church of Scotland of the Free Church of Scotland...
, against the St. Louis Transit Company by a group of three thousand workers unionized by the Amalgamated Street Railway Employees of America
Amalgamated Transit Union
The Amalgamated Transit Union is a labor union in the United States and The Amalgamated Transit Union Canadian Council in Canada, representing workers in the transit system and other industries...
.
Between May 7 and the end of the strike in September, 14 people had been killed, and 200 wounded.
Background
Until 1899 there had been ten independent streetcar operating companies in St. Louis, providing regular transit service in the fourth-largest city in the United States. That year, those ten lines were consolidated into two: the St. Louis & Suburban Railway, and the St. Louis Transit Company, headed by Edwards Whitaker.Under pressure of long hours, low pay, and poor working conditions, the employees of both lines attempted to unionize as Local 131. Whitaker fired his 3,300 workers summarily and was soon running streetcars only with the help of the St. Louis Police Department
St. Louis Police Department
The Metropolitan Police Department, City of St. Louis is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for serving St. Louis City in the U.S. state of Missouri. The current chief is Colonel Daniel Isom....
, who had volunteered up to a thousand men for that duty.
Civil disruption
On the first day of the strike, May 9, the St. Louis Republic reported a full page of riot conditions across the entire city: multiple bystanders shot, an attempted lynching, a crowded streetcar being stoned by a mob sympathetic to the strikers, and policemen assaulted with thrown bricks and bottles.Strikers sought to disrupt service by cutting cables, lighting bonfires, and piling boulders, rubble, and other obstructions onto the tracks. St. Louis had significant union membership, and many working-class citizens shut down the lines in their own neighborhoods in solidarity.
On May 29 Whitaker's own attorney wrote to a local labor commissioner lamenting the increasing lawlessness in the city:
- On Wednesday last a transit car, without a light about it, was loaded with armed men, and while the car was running at a rapid speed by the corner of Mississippi and Park Aves., the men in the car, absolutely without a shadow of provocation, fired into a hall 100 feet away in which a few striking employes were assembled, and several people on the streets were wounded and the lives of many were endangered. Last Thursday night a similar unprovoked outrage was committed at the corner of Compton and Park Aves., where several citizens, some not connected with the strike, were seriously wounded. Other outrages of this nature could be cited, which were committed by ruffians armed by the company and loaded on its cars and scattered through the city.
The Police Board swore in 2,500 citizens in a posse comitatus
Posse comitatus (common law)
Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
commanded by a local realty agent
Real estate broker
A real estate broker, real estate agent or realtor is a party who acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate/real property and attempts to find sellers who wish to sell and buyers who wish to buy...
, John H. Cavender, who had played a similar paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
role in the bloody 1877 Saint Louis general strike
1877 Saint Louis general strike
Generally accepted as the first general strike in America, the 1877 Saint Louis general strike grew out of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. The general strike was largely organized by the Knights of Labor and the Marxist-leaning Workingmen's Party, the main radical political party of the era. ...
. On the evening of June 10, men of that posse fatally shot three strikers returning from a picnic
Picnic
In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...
, leaving 14 others wounded. A dozen or more eyewitnesses
Witness
A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
disputed the sheriff's statement that they'd been armed
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
. For their part the strikers made three unsuccessful attempts to dynamite
Dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
the housing for the temporary workers in the car barns at Easton and Prairie Avenues. On July 2, Whittaker signed an agreement to take back the workers and let them unionize, but then reneged on the deal.
Results
The strike sputtered to a close in September with no advantage to the exhausted workers.But the strike indirectly led to the "sensational exposures of the boodle ring". A young lawyer named Joseph W. Folk
Joseph W. Folk
Joseph "Holy Joe" Wingate Folk was an American lawyer, reformer, and politician from St. Louis, Missouri.Raised in a strict Baptist household in Brownsville, Tennessee, Folk first made his reputation as a lawyer for transit workers in the St. Louis Streetcar Strike of 1900...
represented the striking workers in the settlement, was soon working as the city prosecutor pursuing the city's corrupt Democratic boss Edward Butler, and by 1904 was Governor of Missouri. The same spirit of reform saw the election of Mayor Rolla Wells
Rolla Wells
Rolla Wells , also called "Rollo", was an American politician. He served two terms as Mayor of St. Louis, Missouri, was named an officer of the Democratic National Committee in the 1912 Wilson campaign, and served as Governor of the St. Louis branch of the Federal Reserve Bank.- Biography :Born in...
on a reform platform, and an expose of St. Louis corruption by Lincoln Steffens
Lincoln Steffens
-Biography:Steffens was born April 6, 1866, in San Francisco. He grew up in a wealthy family and attended a military academy. He studied in France and Germany after graduating from the University of California....
published in McClure's
McClure's
McClure's or McClure's Magazine was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with creating muckraking journalism. Ida Tarbell's series in 1902 exposing the monopoly abuses of John D...
in 1902 (later collected in The Shame of the Cities
The Shame of the Cities
The Shame of the Cities was a work published in 1904 by Lincoln Steffens that sought to expose public corruption in many major cities throughout the United States. The work consists of articles written for the magazine McClure's in one collection. His goal was to provoke public outcry and thus...
), said to be the first example of muckraking journalism.
Whitaker thrived as a St. Louis businessman—in 1910 he became president of Boatmen's Bank
Boatmen's Bancshares
Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. was one of the 30 largest bank holding companies in the United States when it was acquired by NationsBank in 1996.The company, founded in St. Louis, Missouri in 1847, claimed to be the oldest bank west of the Mississippi River at the time of its acquisition.The bank was...
.
Similar streetcar labor actions with similar results happened in Cleveland in 1899 and Indianapolis in 1913. St. Louis streetcar workers would strike again in 1918.