Pinkerton agents
Hired strikebreaking operatives
Pinkerton agents were private detectives employed by the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, founded in 1850.
They became notorious for infiltrating labor unions, breaking strikes, and pursuing outlaws like Jesse James.
The term often carries negative connotations of corporate thuggery and strikebreaking: The company brought in Pinkerton agents to intimidate the workers.
Today it refers more broadly to private security operatives.
- detectivesThose who solve crimes
- private eyeHired investigator, unlicensed
- strikebreakersWorkers replacing union laborers
- union bustingDisrupting worker organizing efforts
- labor disputesWorker-employer conflicts
spies · operatives · undercover · hired · guards · surveillance · train robbery · manhunt · railroad · tracking · badges · infiltrators · Wild West · bounty · hired guns · pursuit · never sleeps · secret service
Pinkerton agentsstate police
Regional law enforcement agency
FBI agents · constables · sheriffs · municipal police · Texas Rangers
Pinkerton agentsunion organizers
Those building worker collectives
strikers · trade unionists · labor activists · Wobblies · Mother Jones
Pinkerton agentsoutlaws
Fugitives from justice
fugitives · bandits · Jesse James · Butch Cassidy · train robbers
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