The strike collapsed after two weeks when 8,000 state militia entered the town and other unions refused to support the workers.
In early 1892, the New York state legislature passed a law mandating a 10-hour work-day and increases in the day- and night-time minimum wage.
The Buffalo police, sympathetic to the workers' cause, refused to help the railroads break the strike.
The sheriff of Erie County swore in a number of special deputies but was unable to stop the arson.
[3][4][note 1] On August 15, Democratic Governor Roswell P. Flower called out the New York State Guard to restore order and protect the railroads' property.
However, State Guard Brigadier General Peter C. Doyle, commanding the Fourth Brigade, held a full-time position as an agent of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and was determined to crush the strike.
He ordered dozens of strikers imprisoned, and encouraged his troops to deal harshly with any workers who interfered, or seemed about to interfere, with the keeping of the peace.
[6] Prior to the Buffalo switchmen's strike, most railroad unions in the United States did not engage in consultation and coordination in order to increase their collective bargaining power.