Today in Labor History July 10, 34 American Raily Union members were killed by troops & killing 112

[Omaha Steve]

July 10

Mary McLeod Bethune, educator and civil rights activist, born - 1875

July 10, 1894 - A federal grand jury indicted Eugene V. Debs and other leaders of the American Railway Union, charging them with conspiracy against the government of the United States by interfering with interstate commerce during the Pullman strike. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act, intended to regulate the power of corporations, was often used to shackle unions.

14,000 federal and state troops finally succeed in putting down the strike against the Pullman Palace Car Co., which had been peaceful until July 5, when federal troops intervened in Chicago, against the repeated protests of the Governor and Chicago’s mayor. Some 34 American Raily Union members were killed by troops over the course of the strike - 1894

A powerful explosion rips through the Rolling Mill coal mine in Johnstown, Pa., killing 112 miners, 83 of whom were immigrants from Poland and Slovakia - 1902

Labor history found here: http://www.unionist.com/today-in-labor-history & here: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_07_10_2009