It Was Debs, Says Romig

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

This week’s Quote Contest winner (drawn at random from those answering correctly) is Keith Romig, who knew that it was Eugene Victor Debs who said "There can be no defeat for the labor movement” during the 1894 Pullman strike, which brought Debs national attention, convinced him that the lives of American workers would never improve unless they controlled governmental power through their strength of numbers in elections, and led directly to his conversion to socialism (for more details on the strike, click here). Special Mention to Matt Borus who knew the answer was Debs because “Gompers was not part of the Pullman Strike and it was a little too early for Haywood.” Honorable Mentions to Stefan Patejak, Monica Lee Silbas, Ryan Cunningham, Michele Bollinger, Luis Espinosa-Organista,  Loretta Kane, Scott Wilsons, Jack Clark, Andrew Willis, Kitty Conlan, Mark Gruenberg and Dan  Duncan.