The History of the Pullman Company

The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porter's fought for 12 years to be recognized by the Pullman Company. The Union nearly collapsed after a call for a strike that never got off the ground, and membership was halved between 1928 and 1929. But in 1934, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act, which encouraged collective bargaining. In 1935, the Pullman company finally sat down with Randolph and other members of the Union to negotiate for the first time. Two years later, the pullmanCompany agreed to pay porters $89.50 per month; working conditions improved as well.