The June 26 deadline came and still the Pullman Company refused to arbitrate its wage reductions. Railway employees began to refuse to handle trains pulling Pullman cars. The ARU established temporary strike headquarters in Chicago to keep more closely abreast of the situation. Chicago became a constant mass of meetings as workers of the various railway crafts gathered to discuss the strike situation. The railway switchmen were the first to act, refusing to attach Pullman cars to trains. When one switchman would be fired for insubordination, all the others in the shop would quit, in accord with a previously agreed upon plan.