As a result, the workers organized with the International Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees, which established two local unions in the Twin Cities.

On October 9, the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety (MCPS, a watchdog organization formed by the state government during the war) became involved, bringing an end to the strike as they mandated that the company institute improved working conditions and pay increases while they reviewed the terminations on a case-by-case basis.

Additionally, the strike, which was supported by the Nonpartisan League, resulted in closer collaboration between organized labor and agricultural interests, contributing to the formation of the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party the following year.

[4][5] The company had a board of directors that included many noted area citizens and was led by its president, Thomas Lowry, a real estate developer who had been involved in the creation of many of the Twin Cities' neighborhoods, which were serviced by the streetcars.

[7] As a result, starting in August 1917[8][9] and continuing into September, workers began to hold talks with labor union activists and pushed for a wage increase of $0.03 per hour.

[12] The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a radical anticapitalist union that had regional headquarters in downtown Minneapolis,[12] was one such organization, and many employees who had pushed for the wage increases and better working conditions had ties to the group.

[11] Alongside this one of the fired union workers was attacked by a foremen with another non-union employee holding him down, this was after he demanded the pay from his last week of work before being discharged.

[8] It would not be the first in the history of the Twin Cities streetcar system, as in 1889, workers for the Minneapolis Street Railway Company (a predecessor of the TCRT) went on strike over a wage decrease.

[12][16] For the duration of the war, the MCPS targeted many groups that they deemed a possible threat, including socialists, German Americans, the Nonpartisan League, the IWW, and organized labor in general.

[17] According to an article published by the Minnesota Historical Society, "The MCPS employed the Home Guard as a de facto police force to quell labor disputes".

[24] According to historian William Millikan, the CCA had established the auxiliary out of fear that Governor Burnquist and the MCPS would be too hesitant to respond to a local issue, such as a labor strike.

[26] With a possible streetcar strike imminent, officers in the Civilian Auxiliary met on September 6 at the Minneapolis Athletic Club to reorganize the group into four companies of 150 men each.

[8] Sheriff Langum was quickly notified and he ordered the Civilian Auxiliary to be mobilized, under the field leadership of Colonel Harrison and Major Henry Adams Bellows.

[8] Later in the day, a group of about 150 union supporters gathered around a carbarn at the intersection of Washington Avenue and 24th Street and attempted to convince working employees to join the strike.

[5] For several hours after the start of the strike, a mob of about 3,000 strikers moved through the streets and committed acts of property damage,[10][5] such as smashing windows and attacking operating streetcars.

[5] According to Wingerd, the rioting, which had begun as a labor dispute between the workers and streetcar company, had quickly taken the form of a "community protest" that involved many Saint Paulites airing various grievances, including from several uniformed soldiers who participated,[5][31] and the local St. Paul Daily News described the event as having the atmosphere of "a state fair", noting the presence of vendors selling popcorn and peanuts.

[30] According to Millikan, this committee, which began holding hearings on November 7, was biased towards the union, and there were rumors that Fetter also owned stock in TCRT and that Hamline University had received a financial endowment from Horace Lowry.

[36] That same day, the CCA reorganized the Minneapolis division of the American Protective League (APL), an organization nominally under the direction of the United States Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation whose goal was to employ surveillance on certain groups during the war.

[38][10][32] After the rally, despite calls by labor leader speakers to engage in peaceful demonstrations,[32] a large group of people (later reported by the Pioneer Press as about 2,500)[5] took to Saint Paul's streets and began to damage TCRT company property and attack nonunion streetcar workers.

[10] Governor Burnquist later removed Sheriff Wagener from his post due to his inaction, and though labor activists gathered 20,000 signatures calling for his reinstatement, this did not occur.

[38] These men patrolled the streets in weather that dropped to as low as -25 degrees Fahrenheit and engaged in some sporadic scuffles with union members, but were able to prevent the widespread rioting that Saint Paul experienced.

[13] In the aftermath, two speakers at the Rice Park rally, including James Manahan of the Nonpartisan League, who had pledged that group's support for the strikers, were arrested for inciting a riot, though these charges were later dismissed by a judge in Ramsey County.

[40] While the violence had been quelled in the Twin Cities, a national gathering of union members scheduled for December 5 prompted fears of a general strike in the metropolitan area.

[32] Secretary Baker notified Governor Burnquist that the federal government was willing to intervene to prevent more disturbances,[37] as they believed that a continued labor dispute in the cities could hurt the country's war effort.

[37] On the morning of Wednesday, December 5, about 15,000 unionists met at the Saint Paul Auditorium and heard speeches from notable labor activists, including Mayor Van Lear.

[42] The mediators held their inquiries at the Radisson Hotel in Minneapolis and heard testimony from representatives of many of the involved organizations, including the streetcar company, the unions, the CCA, the MCPS, and other politicians.

[45][46] Secretary Baker requested the MCPS to urge the company to comply with the recommendations, but Lowry responded that compliance "would be imposing a gross injustice" on nonunion members.

[5] According to Wingerd, the strike had an impact on national politics, as it demonstrated the limited power the federal government held in dealing with labor issues.

[5] The CCA and its Civilian Auxiliary and the MCPS and its Home Guard continued to exert strong influence over state and local politics for the next several months, effectively silencing the IWW, Nonpartisan League, and vocal labor unions for the duration of WWI.

[13] However, according to historians John W. Diers and Aaron Isaacs, "The company won "The War of St. Paul" and its fare increases, but its obstinacy did nothing to improve its fortunes, as more and more streetcar riders became automobile owners".