1917 Bloomington Streetcar Strike

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.

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 (108 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]

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]

See also

• 1917 Twin Cities streetcar strike

Further reading

• The Daily Pantagraph, 1917 Streetcar Strike Articles Collection
• Sasic, Eme. Bloomington to celebrate centennial of street car strike. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
• Raye, Janet (August 19, 2017). Bloomington IL Street Car Strike of 1917. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
• Sobota, Lenore (July 2, 2017). A walk through time: Bloomington's 1917 streetcar strike. pantagraph.com. Retrieved 2023-04-08.