strikebreakers. The Teamsters Joint Council of Chicago, a citywide organization of all Teamster locals in the Chicago area, began a sympathy strike on June 24, 1903. The three employers sought injunctions against the sympathy strike, which they won on July 20, 1903. The Brass Molders' strike collapsed soon afterward. During this strike, the Employers' Association of Chicago was formed. John G. Shedd, vice-president of Marshall Field & Company, was the primary force behind the organization of the group. Shedd became the group's first president. Montgomery Ward president Robert J. Thorne was the EA's first vice-president; grocery store president Frank H. Armstrong of Reid, Murdoch & Company the second vice-president; and William E. Clow, president of plumbing manufacturer J.B. Clow & Co. the secretary. The EA's goal was to secure the open shop, resist unionization, and break unions in workplaces where they existed. The EA was heavily funded by the city's banks and by large companies such as Rand McNally. The Teamsters quickly became the target of the EA. The Teamsters were one of the largest unions in Chicago. But since the Teamsters controlled the city's transportation network, the union's support was also critical to the success of any other union's job action. In early 1904, the Teamsters aligned all their contracts to expire simultaneously on May 1, 1905. The EA then passed a resolution on June 16, 1904, declaring that no employer would sign a contract with the Teamsters after May 1, 1905. Strike On December 15, 1904, 19 clothing cutters at Montgomery Ward went on strike to protest the company's use of nonunion subcontractors. The manager of the fabric cutting room for Montgomery Ward & Co. at the time of the initial incident was C.V. Boller. The Montgomery Ward company locked the remaining workers out. Sympathy strikes by several tailors' unions broke out, as did sympathy strikes by other unions. By April, 5,000 workers were on the picket line, with all 26 local members of the National Tailors' Association (a coalition of clothing manufacturers and retailers) struck. The Teamsters engaged in a sympathy strike on April 6, 1905, adding another 10,000 members to the picket lines. Teamsters President Cornelius Shea targeted Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck and Company in particular, as these were the leaders in the National Tailors' Association. The sympathy strike had not occurred earlier in the year for fear it would have imperiled the candidacy of