1. Poor Working Conditions: Employees of the Pullman Company, which manufactured railroad sleeping cars, faced long hours, low wages, and unsafe working conditions. They worked an average of 12-14 hours a day, six days a week, with no overtime pay.
2. Wage Reduction: In May 1893, during the economic depression known as the Panic of 1893, the Pullman Company announced a 25% wage cut. This was despite the fact that the company remained profitable and its owner, George Pullman, continued to live lavishly.
3. Company Town Control: The town of Pullman, Illinois, where the company was located, was a company town, meaning that the Pullman Company controlled almost every aspect of its workers' lives, from housing to healthcare. This gave the company significant leverage over its employees.
4. Lack of Representation: The Pullman Company refused to recognize unions and discouraged its workers from joining them. This left workers with no effective means to address their grievances.
5. Injustice in Pullman's Treatment of Strikers: When workers went on strike, Pullman refused to negotiate with them, fired them, and evicted them from their company-owned homes. These harsh actions further angered the workers.
These key factors contributed to the爆发of the Pullman Strike, sparking a wave of labor activism and becoming a pivotal event in the history of American labor relations.