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The Baltimore railroad strike of 1877 involved several days of work stoppage and violence in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1877. It formed a part of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 , during which widespread civil unrest spread nationwide following the global depression and economic downturns of the mid-1870s.
By the end of August, three unions representing about 15,000 workers agreed to the recommendations made by the board. [14] [15] On September 14, near the end of the cooling off period, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh hosted negotiations at the Department of Labor between the railroad companies, and unions in an attempt to prevent a strike. [16]
The first national strike began July 16, 1877, with Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers in Martinsburg, West Virginia, and Baltimore, Maryland. It spread across the nation halting rail traffic and closing factories in reaction to widespread worker discontent over wage cuts and conditions during a national depression .
A strike could also affect the country’s commuter rail system, with the potential to halt some lines serviced by freight rail workers, and cause backlogs and traffic snarls on others.
Late-night negotiations averted a strike by the nation's railroad workers, which would have had huge effects on the U.S. and California economies. A last-minute deal stopped a massive railroad strike.
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In Martinsburg, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and other cities, workers burned down and destroyed both physical facilities and the rolling stock of the railroads—engines and railroad cars. Some locals feared that workers were rising in revolution such as the Paris Commune of 1871, while others joined their efforts against the railroads.
Rail lines and the country's two largest rail unions still can't agree on pay and time off, leaving some 60,000 workers ready to leave the job Friday unless they get a deal.