1917 Bloomington Streetcar Strike

Labor dispute in Illinois, US

Bloomington Streetcar Strike of 1917

Part of streetcar strikes in the United States

Illinois National Guard troops surrounding the Bloomington’s courthouse square

Date

May 28 – July 9, 1917
(107 years ago)

Location

Bloomington, Illinois

Resulted in

Daily pay increased by 35¢^[1]
Workday decreased from
9:20^[1] to 9:00 hours^[2]
Union Recognition
Wrongful termination protections^[1]

Parties

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 752
Sympathy strikers

B&N Street Railway
Illinois National Guard

Lead figures

Mother Jones

US Rep. & owner of B&N:
William B. McKinley

Number

~200 Streetcar Strikers

1,200 sympathy strikers, C&A Railroad repair shops^[3]

B&N power plant
sympathy strikers

1,400 National Guard

Original pay before the strike was $2.25/day,
for a nine-and-a-half-hour workday^[2]^[1]

North American transit strikes

Streetcar strikes

St. Louis 1900
Indianapolis 1892
Los Angeles 1903
San Francisco 1907
Pensacola 1908
Columbus 1910
Philadelphia 1910
Indianapolis 1913
St. John 1914
Atlanta 1916
Portland, ME 1916
Bloomington, IL 1917
Twin Cities 1917
Los Angeles 1919
New Orleans 1920
Denver 1920
New Orleans 1929

1930s–1970s

1980s–2020s

Greyhound 1983
New York City 2005
Toronto 2006
Toronto 2008
Lyft and Uber 2019

The 1917 Bloomington Streetcar Strike was a labor dispute starting on May 28, 1917^[4]^[2]^[5]^[α] when ATU Local 752 called a strike for union recognition, increased pay, and a shortened workday.

Facing a strike, Bloomington & Normal Street Railway & Light offered a 20¢ a day increase before the strike but refused to give union recognition,^[2] so the union struck. A month into the strike Mother Jones rallied for the cause.

It ended in July when the mayor of Bloomington, E.E. Jones, mediated contract talks between the workers and company from July 6 to 9. During this, Illinois National Guard had been stationed outside the courthouse where mediation was occurring and B&N’s power plant, equipped with machine gun emplacements.^[2]

An agreement was reached on July 9, 1917 in a victory for the union, winning recognition, reduced hours, and increased pay.^[2]^[4]^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Unknown (1917-07-10), "English: TEXT AGREEMENT WHICH SETTLES STREET RAILWAY STRIKE", The Pantagraph, retrieved 2023-04-09
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Bloomington 1917 Strike". Mother Jones Museum. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
^ Unknown (July 7, 1917), "English: The Bloomington Strike-", Chicago Tribune, retrieved 2023-04-10
^ ^a ^b ^c "A Community in Conflict: 1917". McLean County Museum of History.
^ ^a ^b Unknown (May 29, 1917), "Call Strike on Street Car Lines", The Pantagraph, p. 3, retrieved 2023-04-10
^ "The Founding of ATU Local 752". atulocal752.org. Retrieved 2023-04-08.

Notes

^ Sources conflict on the starting date of the strike. ATU Local 752^[6] mistakenly states April 28, 1917 for its history. While the Mother Jones museum^[2] & McLean County Museum^[4] state March 28, 1917 which aligns with all the primary sources.^[5]