Burlington railroad strike of 1888

Burlington railroad strike of 1888
Strikers attacking strikebreaking switchmen and brakemen near the stockyards in Chicago.
Date	February 27 – December, 1888
Location	Burlington, Iowa United States
Goals	Wage increase
Methods	Striking, sabotage
Resulted in	Strikers laid off
Parties
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) Pinkerton National Detective Agency
Lead figures
Peter M. Arthur, Frank P. Sargent Henry B. Stone, Charles Elliott Perkins
Casualties and losses
Killed: 2

The Burlington railroad strike of 1888 was a failed union strike which pitted the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (B of LE), the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen (B of LF), and the Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association (SMAA) against the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) its extensive trackage in the Midwestern United States. It was led by the skilled engineers and firemen, who demanded higher wages, seniority rights, and grievance procedures. It was fought bitterly by management, which rejected the very notion of collective bargaining. There was much less violence than the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, but after 10 months the very expensive company operation to permanently replace all the strikers was successful and the strike was a total defeat for them.^[1]