Impact
The strike significantly strengthened the EA, which in the next few years fiercely attacked the Teamsters and other unions for corruption. By the mid-1920s, unionization rates in Chicago had fallen dramatically, and even the once-powerful Chicago Teamsters unions had shrunk to a small, relatively ineffective force.
The strike also caused public support for unions throughout the U.S. to fall. By 1910, due to the publicity surrounding Driscoll's allegations as well as widespread labor-related violence, American labor unions had lost much of the sway over public opinion they once held. In many ways, some scholars argue, labor unions in the United States never recovered this support.
Nearly half the Teamster members who went on strike were not rehired. Most were blackballed and had to find work outside the city.
Cornelius Shea, although indicted three times, was never convicted of any crimes in connection with the 1905 strike. A serious challenge to his control of the Teamsters emerged in August 1905, but he was able to beat back the opposition through a combination of vote fraud and bribery.
Read more about this topic: 1905 Chicago Teamsters' Strike
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