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The Pullman Strike Role Play is a simulation from the Workable Peace Curriculum Series unit on The Rise of Organized Labor in the United States.
Overview of The Pullman Strike Role Play:
This role play is set in the town of Pullman, Illinois,
outside of Chicago, in 1894. Pullman is a town designed,
owned, and operated by industrialist George
Pullman, President of the Pullman Palace Car Company,
and with a population of several thousand people,
almost all employed at the Pullman Company. Labor
activism is strong in Chicago at this time, but Pullman
tries to keep his workers from organizing and does not
recognize unions. Nonetheless, the workers join the
American Railway Union, just as the nation is sinking
into an economic depression that forces most industrialists
to lay off workers and lower wages. The burdens
of this economic downswing are especially difficult for
Pullman’s workers because the rents in the town of
Pullman are high, and Pullman does not lower them.
Eventually, the conflict escalates to a confrontation between
Pullman and a committee representing workers.
The workers demand higher wages and lower rents,
and Pullman informs them that neither can be met.
Soon thereafter, the workers go on strike, and manage
to convince the members of the American Railway
Union to support them with a boycott of Pullman cars.
That means they refuse to work on trains containing
Pullman cars. The general managers of all the train
companies in Chicago side with Pullman, and refuse
to disconnect Pullman cars from their lines, and so
train traffic is held up and stopped across the nation.
Although attempts were made to convince the parties
involved to enter into negotiations, the key stakeholders
never convened in either a formal or informal facilitated
setting. Instead, the federal government sent
forces from the U.S. Army to end the strike. It is at
this point that the Pullman Strike Role Play becomes
counter-factual. Our simulation asks participants to
imagine “what if” all the stakeholder groups had been
brought together for negotiations, by imagining that
the federal government is unwilling to intervene until
negotiations are attempted. Five stakeholders and
a mediator/chair agree to sit down together to try to
resolve the conflict.
Major Lessons:
Teacher's Package Includes:
If you would like additional information about the Workable Peace framework and teaching materials, including information about teacher training and support, please contact Workable Peace Co-Directors David Fairman or Stacie Smith at:
The Consensus Building Institute, Inc.
238 Main Street, Suite 400
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-492-1414
Fax: 617-492-1919
Website: www.cbuilding.org
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