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[[Image:1908militia3.jpg|thumb|right|State militia escorting strikebreakers]]At the onset of the strike, the Pensacola Electric Company had begun placing ads for local strikebreakers, but only one man responded. Thereafter the company sought to import strikebreakers from out of town in order to resume service. The strikebreakers, brought into the city by the Pensacola Electric Company from New York and elsewhere, began arriving in Pensacola on [[on April 10]] and continued to come into the city for the next several days.<ref>Wayne Flynt. “Pensacola Labor Problems and Political Radicalism,” The Florida Historical Quarterly 43, no. 4 (April 1965): 319.</ref> The company erected housing for the men in the car barn. After a mob of strikers and sympathizers met the first train strikebreakers violently, Florida Governor [[Wikipedia:Napoleon B. Broward|Napoleon B. Broward]] ordered the state militia into Pensacola. Companies K and M of the state militia arrived on the evening of [[April 11]]. After their arrival the militia provided security for the strikebreakers, meeting them upon their arrival and escorting them to the company’s car barn.<ref>“43 Strike Breakers Arrive in Pensacola,” Pensacola Journal, April 11, 1908.</ref> The state troops were quartered at the [[Old Escambia County Courthouse]] and in tents in the median of North [[Palafox Street]].

As the lines continued to be run by strikebreakers, Florida Adjutant General Clifford Foster, Escambia County Solicitor [[Scott M. Loftin]], and other parties worked to bring the two sides together to mediate the dispute. Progress seemed to be made (Foster stated on April 15 that the prospects of a settlement were “very bright”),<ref>“The Prospects of a Settlement of the Strike Very Bright,” Pensacola Journal, April 15, 1908.</ref> and as a result, strike-related tension and violence tapered off, and state militia troops began to withdraw from the city, with only one reserve company remaining in the city by [[April 20]].  However, on [[April 21]], a crowd fired upon a streetcar on the West Hill line and fatally wounded the conductor, a Mr. [[G. Hoffman]].<ref>Flynt, 323.</ref> Mayor [[C. C. Goodman]] offered a $250 reward "for the apprehension and conviction of the paarty or parties who did the shooting."<ref>Minutes of Pensacola City Council, April 22, 1908.</ref> Two strikers were arrested in connection with the shooting, and, although the men were later released, the previously widespread support of the public at this point began to diminish. Stenographer [[W. L. Wittich, Jr.]] was also fired upon while boarding a streetcar.  On the evening of [[May 11]], a streetcar was dynamited on the [[East Hill]] line. Although there were no passengers on board, and the two operators were uninjured, and there was only minimal damage to the car, the act was vilified in the press. The ''Pensacola Journal'' called the act "dastardly". The union promptly denounced the act and denied that any of its members were responsible. A ''Union Bulletin'' of [[May 12]] noted, “It is to be regretted because whether or not a union man did the work, the company will so charge, and at least a portion of the public so believe.”On [[May 13]], the City Council authorized a $500 reward for an arrest in the case.<ref>Minutes of the Pensacola City Council, May 13, 1908.</ref>

Despite much support from the community, the strike was eventually broken. While initially no strikebreaker-run cars were operated after 6:00 PM, by [[April 25]] the Pensacola Electric Company was able to operate all lines on the regular full schedule. As a show of solidarity with the union men, employees at the Pensacola Navy Yard had begun using chartered boats for their commute, refusing to patronize the streetcar lines run by strikebreakers. However, this practice was stopped when the Yard’s commandant issued an order prohibiting the vessels from landing, forcing the Yard workers to use the strikebreaker-run Bayshore line to get to and from work.<ref>“Strikers Call Off Street Car Strike,” Pensacola Journal, May 17, 1908.</ref> This, combined with the turning public opinion, and the adamant refusal of the company to negotiate or submit to arbitration, did much to hasten the end of the strike. Their spirits broken by a month of unemployment, on May 11, sixteen of the striking workers begged Manager Leadley for their jobs back, although they had won no concessions from the company.<ref>Flynt, 325.</ref> As a condition of their reemployment, the men had to sign the following statement, which was thereafter published in the ''Pensacola Journal'':{{cquote|''We, the undersigned, who have been heretofore employees of the Pensacola Electric Company, and among those who went out on a strike on April 5, 1908, have again accepted employment with that Company, have ceased to belong to Division 234 of the Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America, and have signed a contract with the Electric Company, that should we Join a union hereafter, our connection as employees with that Company shall cease, and we desire to state to the public, through you, our reason for our action. We are satisfied that the strike into which we entered was not justified by the circumstances existing at the time, and that it was unauthorized by the constitution of the Association itself. We believe that a further continuance of the strike would not only be a wrong to the public, but would deprive many of us and our families of the means of subsistence, and we cannot think that it is right for us to continue the wrong which we have begun. For these reasons, we have taken the course which we have stated, and believe that the public will appreciate that our position this time is right.''|20px|20px|“Sixteen Conductors and Motormen Return to Work,” ''Pensacola Journal'', May 12, 1908.<ref>“Sixteen Conductors and Motormen Return to Work,” Pensacola Journal, [[May 12]], [[1908]].</ref>}}

Their spirits broken by a month of unemployment, on May 11, sixteen of the striking workers begged Manager Leadley for their jobs back, although they had won no concessions from the company.<ref>Flynt, 325.</ref> As a condition of their reemployment, the men had to sign a statement affirming that the strike had been unjustified, and that they had left their union, and sign a contract stating that their employment with the company would cease if they ever again joined a union. The statement appeared in the Pensacola Journal the following day.<ref>“Sixteen Conductors and Motormen Return to Work,” Pensacola Journal, May 12, 1908.</ref> On [[May 13]], after another streetcar was nearly but unsuccessfully dynamited, the remaining unionized strikers officially ended the strike, but were not offered back their jobs.<ref>Scott Satterwhite, “The Great Pensacola Streetcar Strike of 1908,” Boogie Pensacola, February 23, 2000.</ref>

<gallery perrow="34" widths="200px">Image:Strikers.PNG|The striking employees of the [[Pensacola Electric Company]]