The Pullman Strike (May–July 1894) was a widespread railroad strike and boycott that disrupted rail traffic in the U.S. Midwest in June–July 1894. Responding to layoffs, wage cuts, and firings, workers at Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago went on strike, and, eventually, some 125,000–250,000 railroad workers in 27 states joined their cause, stifling the national rail network west of Chicago. Claiming that the strike violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, Edwin Walker, a special attorney acting for U.S. Attorney General Richard Olney, obtained an injunction that U.S. Pres. Grover Cleveland used to dispatch federal troops to address the strike. Following an outbreak of deadly violence, the strike dwindled and rail traffic resumed.