Railroad strike of 1877?

Question

Railroad strike of 1877?

Answer 1

What about it??  It happened and is well documented offline and online.

Answer 2

I'll just echo Rango's words.

To a lot of people "union" is a dirty word.  At the worst I would call unions nothing more than a necessary evil.  That is an opinion I don't hold, but people are entitled to their own outlook.

The BLE (Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, now BLET, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen) was the first labor union to organize in the US, founded in 1863.

But, the union has worked to the benefit of the public as well, in the case of the BLE.  Without their efforts, improvements to equipment, particularly where safety is concerned, would have languished due to the reticence of the carriers to spend the money to implement the new advances, from air brakes to safety glass.

Answer 3

The above answer is absolutely correct, but I would like to add one small footnote.

Although the direct results were indeed a disaster for the labor force directly involved, it was of tremendous benefit for future generations.

Business now HAD to take labor seriously, even though they "won" that round, they now knew labor was a force to be taken seriously, very seriously. The government was known to be a friend of big business and not the common man.

It allowed future generations of labor to be much more effective in their efforts.

Over the years, thanks to the sacrifice and blood of those striking workers we have gained innumerable benefits from business that have translated to gains all over the world.

Much left to be done, but the effort continues, thanks in no small part to these striking workers. Labor have gotten us the 40 hour work week, child labor laws, paid vacations, health benefits, retirement, workplace safety laws, etc etc.

Business did not openly embrace these, they had to through negotiations with organized labor.

Answer 4

The 1877 railroad strike was the first major nationwide labor strike in the United States. It was generally triggered by the 1873 depression during which railroad workers experienced numerous wage reductions and lay offs. The strike was ignited by a wage reduction on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and quickly spread throughout the United States from New York City to Pittsburgh to St. Louis, Chicago and San Francisco. All major cities experienced a transportation stoppage as the nation's rail centers shut down due to the strike. After two weeks, President Hayes called out the federal troops to end the strike, in order to get the nation's railroads moving again. The use of the troops during this strike showed how the government would typically intervene on behalf of management and against labor during strikes. The outcome of the strike was over 100 dead, two-thirds of the nation's railroads laying idle and millions of dollars in property damaged but none of the demands of the striking workers were gained. This strike is symbolic of the labor movement in the United States in the violence that accompanied it and the general failure of the strikes to gain concessions for the workers.

I hope that my answer helps.

Joolz