ABSTRACT
The last couple of decades of the nineteenth century were marked by dramatic labor conflicts in the American meatpacking industry. Labor historian James R. Barrett explains that “meat packing was the most strike-prone of all U.S. industries in the years between 1881 and 1905.” Chicago became the epicenter of these labor conflicts because its Union Stock Yards employed more than a third of the total national meatpacking labor force, and its labor relations set industry standards. In the summer of 1877, as a general strike swept across the city, packinghouse workers took to the streets demanding a wage increase of $2.00 per day. When the Chicago police ordered them to disperse and go back to work, they remained and subsequently the police fired into their ranks. By the time the battle ended, nearly three dozen workers were killed and over 200 injured, according to Barrett. Ultimately, the workers won a wage increase and secured labor agreements with the packers (owners). Just two years later, in December 1879, labor unrest again erupted as 5,000 to 6,000 packinghouse workers struck, demanding a closed shop. Once again, violence broke out and the police were called in. The strike was short-lived as workers began to break ranks and return to work within barely a month of walking off the job.
