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Why did the American Railway Union call for a boycott of Pullman cars?

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shantytown in Chicago — Pullman Strike A shantytown on the lakefront in Chicago during the Pullman Strike and general economic downturn of 1893–94.

The American Railway Union (ARU) initiated a nationwide boycott of Pullman cars as a strategy to support striking workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company.12

Following the economic depression of 1893, the company had significantly reduced worker wages without lowering the high rents and costs in the company town of Pullman, leaving many families in desperate poverty. When a worker delegation attempted to address these grievances, company president George M. Pullman refused to negotiate and fired the representatives, prompting a strike on May 11, 1894.132

Although the ARU was not initially involved in the strike, the union sought a way to support the workers. After George M. Pullman refused to submit the dispute to arbitration, the ARU delegates voted to boycott. The plan was for union members to refuse to handle any trains that included Pullman cars, effectively pressuring the railroads to sever their ties with the Pullman Company until the labor dispute was resolved.12