Strike's End
The strike ended not through the efforts of the EA or the unions, but due to the allegations of graft made by John C. Driscoll. At the time, Driscoll was secretary (the highest officer) of the Team Owners' Association, the employer group which had locked out the Teamsters after the sympathy strike which began on April 6. On June 2, the grand jury led by McCormick heard testimony by Driscoll. Driscoll claimed that he had taken at least $10,000 in bribes from Thorne and executives at other companies to force the unions out on strike. Driscoll also alleged that the Teamsters and other unions had demanded bribes to end the strike, that the bribes had been delivered, and that Driscoll had skimmed portions of these bribes into his own pocket. $50,000 in canceled checks were produced in court to support Driscoll's claims. Driscoll's accusations unleashed a flood of allegations by other witnesses. Shea and another Teamsters leader, Albert Young, accused Thorne and other employers of offering them bribes to strike business competitors, and offered evidence in court of previous bribes which the Teamster leaders had accepted (and which had led to large strikes). Thorne and other employers countered that Shea and other union leaders had asked for bribes ranging from $20,000 to $50,000 to call off the current strike. On June 3, the grand jury returned bribery and conspiracy indictments against Shea and 19 other union leaders, but none against the employers.
The development was not unsurprising. Each side knew the other was taking bribes early in the strike. Charges of bribery were levied against the leaders of the strike as early as April 16, but were generally ignored. The unions levied their own accusations of bribery against the employers during legal hearings on May 12.
The evening of June 3, Thorne swore out arrest warrants for Shea on charges of criminal libel for making in-court accusations of bribery.
The arrest infuriated Shea. Late that evening, having made bail, he convened an emergency meeting of the Teamster executive board. Ensuring that primarily his supporters attended the meeting, Shea pushed through several resolutions calling for the end to peace talks, reaffirming support for the strike, and praising Shea's handling of the strike. Although negotiations with the employers had nearly reached complete agreement, Shea withdrew his negotiators and repudiated the tentative agreements which had been reached.
Shea was arrested again on June 5, this time for failing to pay bond regarding the June 3 conspiracy indictment.
Although the bribery accusations undercut both sides, public support for the unions suffered most. While nearly every union continued to support the strike publicly, most sent their members back to work by the end of June. The Teamsters continued to support the strike, but various divisions of the union also went back to work in June and July. By August 1, 1905, the strike was over and the employers ended the lockout.
Read more about this topic: 1905 Chicago Teamsters' Strike
Famous quotes containing the word strike:
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—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881)
“Is this then a touch? quivering me to a new identity,
Flames and ether making a rush for my veins,
Treacherous tip of me reaching and crowding to help them,
My flesh and blood playing out lightning to strike what is hardly
different from myself,
On all sides prurient provokers stiffening my limbs,”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)