American Railway Union

Seven of the eight officers of the American Railway Union jailed in connection with the 1894 Pullman strike—standing from left to right: George W. Howard, Martin J. Elliott, Sylvester Keliher; seated: William E. Burns, James Hogan, Roy M. Goodwin Eugene V. Debs; and not shown: L. W. Rogers

The American Railway Union (ARU) was briefly among the largest labor unions of its time and one of the first industrial unions in the United States. Launched at a meeting held in Chicago in February 1893, the ARU won an early victory in a strike on the Great Northern Railroad in the summer of 1894.[1] This successful strike was followed by the bitter 1894 Pullman Strike in which government troops and the power of the judiciary were enlisted against the ARU, ending with the jailing of the union's leadership for six months in 1895 and effectively crushing the organization. The group's blacklisted and dispirited remnants finally disbanded the organization via amalgamation into the Social Democracy of America (SDA) at its founding convention in June 1897.

  1. ^ "No Wheels Turning, Star Tribune, April 14, 1894, pg 1. The Great Northern Strike: April 14-May 1, 1894.