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Streetcar operators' strike

4 bytes added, 18:46, 9 April 2008
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Initial stages
==Initial stages==
[[Image:1908strike.jpg|thumb|right|Strikers and citizens pose with car seized by strikers on [[April 6]]]]The next day, Monday, [[April 6]], McCain and the striking workers stopped and boarded a Bayshore car returning to Pensacola from [[Fort Barrancas]]. The company agents operating the car surrended control to the strikers without violence. The strikers then returned the car back to Pensacola, let off its passengers, and took the car into the barn, disrupting service for the remainder of the day.<ref>“Strikers Capture Street Car This Morning Without Bloodshed,” Pensacola Evening News, April 6, 1908.</ref> Pensacola mayor [[C. C. Goodman]], though he had initially tried to arbitrate the dispute, ultimately took the position that, as head of the City government, his utmost obligation was to ensure the Pensacola Electric Company met the demands of its franchise agreement with the [[City of Pensacola]] to furnish reliable streetcar service, even if that meant running the lines with strikebreakers. Goodman sent the following dispatch to the offices of the Pensacola Electric Company:
{{cquote|''Gentleman: I notice that your cars are not being operated this morning on all lines of the city. As mayor of Pensacola, I hereby demand that you shall renew and continue the operation of your cars in accordance with the provisions of your franchise ordinance. Let me have your answer in regard to this matter today.''|20px|20px|“Pensacola Electric Company and Its Employees Lock Horns,” ''Pensacola Journal'', April 7, 1908.}} The union viewed Goodman’s actions as hastening the company’s use of strikebreakers, and Goodman was regularly disparaged in the union’s strike bulletins.<ref>“Dope About Town,” Union Bulletin (Pensacola,) May 12, 1908.</ref>
==Strikebreakers arrive==

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