Denver streetcar strike of 1920

The Denver streetcar strike of 1920 was a labor action and series of urban riots in downtown Denver, Colorado, beginning on August 1, 1920, and lasting six days. Seven were killed and 50 were seriously injured in clashes among striking streetcar workers, strike-breakers, local police, federal troops and the public. This was the "largest and most violent labor dispute involving transportation workers and federal troops".

Denver Tramway provided public transportation for the residents of Denver since its incorporation in 1886. Early in the company's history, they competed against other corporations for the public's patronage. Denver Tramway expanded aggressively and by 1895 had bought or driven its competitors out of business. In that year Thomas S. McMurry was elected mayor after campaigning against the city's public service corporations and demanding a portion of their profits. Denver Tramway campaigned against McMurry in 1899 and he failed to win reelection. Around this time public opinion began to turn against Denver Tramway culminating in 1905 when the company's franchise was supposed to end. In 1893 the Colorado Supreme Court had ruled that a perpetual franchise was unconstitutional, but reversed its ruling after pressure from Denver Tramway's political allies. In an effort to appease the public, the company drew up a new franchise in 1906 which became permanent in 1910 when a newly reconstructed Colorado Supreme Court ruled all perpetual franchises unconstitutional.

While generous for the company the 1906 franchise specified a fixed rate fare, set at 5 cents, and the requirement that Denver Tramway pay 50% maintenance on any roadway on which it had a two-way line. As automobile traffic increased in the early twentieth century, maintenance on the roads became much more costly. Though the company was seeing record ridership levels - by 1917 it was making 62 million trips a year - it was not able to increase its fares to cover its increased expenses. The Tramway company petitioned the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, who authorized a 2-cent fare increase. The city of Denver sued and in 1919 Dewey C. Bailey was elected mayor on a promise to reinstate the 5-cent fare. The Denver Tramway Company responded with layoffs and pay cuts.

Denver streetcar workers had organized in July 1918 as local 746 of the Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America. Within a year, that union had successfully brought new rulings from the War Labor Board that eliminated war-time restrictions, giving them an eight-hour day and a wage hike.Denver Tramway, violating the board's orders, cut the workers pay, and was the target of a four-day strike in July 1919.