Grover Cleveland authorized federal troops during the 1894 Pullman Strike.
The strike began when workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company near Chicago protested wage reductions and rents in the company town. The American Railway Union, led by Eugene V. Debs, supported a nationwide boycott of trains carrying Pullman cars.
Cleveland’s administration obtained a federal injunction and sent troops to Illinois in July 1894, arguing that the strike disrupted delivery of U.S. mail and interstate commerce. Violence followed, and the strike collapsed after federal intervention and the arrest of Debs.
The conflict formed part of the tense labor background surrounding the creation of the federal Labor Day holiday later in 1894. The holiday recognized workers, but its establishment did not mean the federal government had adopted a consistently pro-union position.