every union involved in the strike. Local and state courts issued numerous injunctions against the unions, ordering them to stop picketing and return to work. Historians point out that court actions strongly favored the employers. When a wagon owner refused to do business with Montgomery Ward for fear the Teamsters would picket him, a court forced the team owner to do business with the retailer or be found in contempt of court. In another case, a judge seated a grand jury whose foreman was A. A. McCormick, the reactionary publisher of the Chicago Evening Post. The writs were sweeping in nature. One of the first, if interpreted literally and enforced, would have stripped the unions of their rights to strike: On April 29, 12 prominent labor leaders in Chicago—including Charles Dold, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor; Shea; and 10 other local Teamster presidents—were indicted on six counts of conspiracy to restrain trade, commit violence, and prevent citizens from obtaining work. The unions appealed to President Theodore Roosevelt on May 7, asking him to investigate the causes of the strike. The unions also requested that the president refuse to send troops to Chicago before investigating the status of the strike first. On May 10, Dold, Shea and other strike leaders met with Roosevelt personally in Chicago. Roosevelt refused to mediate an end to the strike, denounced the use of violence in the strike, and warned the labor leaders to settle the strike quickly before federal military intervention was needed. With no collective bargaining negotiations scheduled, much of the strike's activities occurred in the courts in May, June and July. Shea refused to appear in court to provide pre-trial testimony regarding the April 29 indictment. When threatened with jail for contempt of court, he finally appeared but answered all questions with variations of "I don't know." The injunctions also began having an effect. In late May, nearly all the building trade unions in Chicago agreed to return to work, significantly weakening the strike. Shea's handling of the strike came under fire from the executive board of the international Teamsters union. On May 27, the board removed Shea from day-to-day control of the strike and transferred that authority to itself. After these developments, talks to end the strike began. Agreement was reached on a wide range of issues between May 24 and June 2. But despite threats by Shea to call