On this day in 1877, the Great Railroad Strike began after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) cut wages for the third time in a year, a labor uprising that led to the first major American employer to offer a pension plan in 1884.Although the strike began in Martinsburg, West Virginia, it quickly spread throughout the United States.

Striking workers would not allow any trains, mainly freight, to roll until the third wage cut was revoked. West Virginia Governor Henry M. Mathews sent in National Guard units to restore train service. When the soldiers refused to fire on the workers, he appealed for federal troops.

Because of economic problems and pressure on wages by the railroads, workers in numerous other states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Illinois, and Missouri, also went out on strike. At its height, the labor action was supported by approximately 100,000 workers nationwide.

The strike finally ended about 69 days later, forcibly put down by a combination of unofficial militias, the National Guard, and federal troops. An estimated 100 people were killed across the country and more than one hundred million dollars worth of property was damaged, in part from workers destroying the railroad's buildings, engines, and railroad cars.

Due to this unrest and other, later labor efforts, the B&O became the first major employer in the United States to offer a pension plan in 1884.

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    • GoodMorningMrPhelps [none/use name]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Except that the other person involved made a statement that there was nothing untoward and the police said there was no evidence for any type of prosecution, despite the hollering and screeching from all corners of the media.

      This is only The Scum (the newspaper that printed the allegations) up to their old tricks, blatantly making shit up and outing people against their wishes knowing fine well that it will cause anguish and distress, purely to sell newspapers. An absolute fucking rag of a newspaper that should be destroyed along with anyone who links their stories, works for them, or has worked for them.

    • Crucible [he/him, comrade/them]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Definitely sink TERF island but I feel like this plus bolding 'citing a statement from his wife' is really misleading. The statement from his wife only confirms that he's the person who was accused and currently can't make statements for himself. As GoodMorningMrPhelps pointed out this is a Murdoch owned paper making up shit about somebody because they work for the BBC which is competition and publicly owned and therefore evil. The slightest push back from anyone and The Sun immediately said, 'we didn't do anything wrong but also we aren't going to run any more stories about him.'

      The cops aren't doing anything, the lawyer for the teenager said it's made up, the BBC's internal investigation may come up differently but for now I'd be hesitant trusting This as the source of serious allegations.