128:, or O&CB, along with several competing local lines and merged them into one unit called the Omaha Traction Company in the early 1900s. Wattles continued using the O&CB brand. In 1943, the company began training women as streetcar operators after many of its male drivers were called into military service during
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Governor
Cochran ordered arbitration later in the week; owner Wattles agreed to arbitrate and a number of agreements were made with workers' representatives, but no substantive changes were made and strikebreakers stayed on the job. With the National Guard present, the violence quickly ended, and the
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and several other
Eastern cities. Within days the company rolled out heavily fortified streetcars, complete with windows covered by heavy wire and armed guards on board. While few cars attracted passengers, the cars initially encountered little resistance. The company resisted calls for
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In the book he referred to the strikebreakers as, "a jolly lot of disreputables, always ready for a fight." The riots continued through
September 23, 1909, eventually subsiding to the pressure of the strikebreakers.
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On June 13, rioting began in which a man was killed and more than ninety persons, including women and children, were wounded. The city government lost control of the situation and asked
Nebraska governor
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and continued employing strikebreakers. In early May violence broke out, with workers attacking the streetcars and strikebreakers by rifle potshots, violent beatings, and bombings across the city.
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workers in Omaha
Traction Company in the first decade of the 20th century with an organizer arriving in the city in 1902. That early effort faded within a year; however, Gurdon Wattles formed the
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In April 1935 the fragile truce between pro-open shop management of the Omaha
Traction Company and pro-union labor forces broke, causing a long, violent strike. The company hired
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troops returned home on June 21. Court cases ensued, and the situation slowly faded. However, new riots were reported by the end of the month.
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Wattles resisted any unionization within his businesses, as well as the city. When workers struck in early
September 1909 he quickly hired
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destroying streetcars, terrorizing company officials and attacking strikebreakers. Wattles kept the strikebreakers on, hiring others from
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132:. The women learned quickly and were paid the same wages as their male counterparts. The company disbanded with the creation of
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cities to come in until the strikers agreed to his terms. Wattles later wrote a booklet about the events entitled
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A Crime
Against Labor: A brief history of the Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway Strike, 1909.
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A Crime
Against Labor: A brief history of the Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway Strike, 1909
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Amalgamated
Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees
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187:. Starting September 19, 1909 mobs rioted in the streets of
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within the year to fight the prospect of losing the city's
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Rail transportation labor disputes in the United States
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in two of the city's business community's organs, the
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Douglas County Historical Society. Retrieved 4/10/08.
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Omaha and Council Bluffs Railway and Bridge Company
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302:Five Cities: The Story of Their Youth and Old Age
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243:The Omaha Traction Company never unionized.
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606:Tram, urban railway and trolley companies
601:Passenger rail transportation in Nebraska
326:"Omaha strike halts while Taft is here,"
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388:University of Nebraska Press. p 202-204.
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16:American public transportation business
330:September 21, 1909. Retrieved 4/20/08.
502:Omaha and Southern Interurban Railway
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651:Riots and civil disorder in Nebraska
317:University of Nebraska Press. p 136.
626:Defunct companies based in Nebraska
356:"Militia in Omaha after fatal riot"
646:1971 disestablishments in Nebraska
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435:Douglas County Historical Society
414:June 30, 1935. Retrieved 4/21/08.
401:June 19, 1935. Retrieved 4/20/08.
362:June 16, 1935. Retrieved 4/16/08.
167:from across the country to cross
437:. Retrieved June 18, 2007. p 93.
154:Omaha Business Men's Association
641:1904 establishments in Nebraska
346:Archive.org. Retrieved 4/26/08.
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282:Omaha History: At a Glance.
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517:Omaha Traction Company
300:Leighton, G.R. (1939)
100:was a privately owned
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20:Omaha Traction Company
424:"History at a Glance"
386:Omaha: The Gate City.
315:Omaha: The Gate City.
193:Eastern United States
102:public transportation
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226:Robert Leroy Cochran
136:in the early 1970s.
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507:Omaha Cable Tramway
412:The New York Times.
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339:Wattles, G. (1909)
328:The New York Times.
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