The Paper is about the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 (Essay Sample)

THE GREAT RAILROAD STRIKE OF 1877
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Abstract
The paper is written in relation to the recent labor strike that occurred on 26th October 2016, during which, at least, 4700 transit workers put their tools, refused to works, and went on strike in Philadelphia. The emplyees feel dissatisfied since their desires and needs are not regarded. The paper seeks to address the workers in order to convince them that their issue is typical and solvable without further escalation of the situation. The advice is based on the research conducted on the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, a related historic event when the rail workers refused to fulfill their duties because of wage slash clause, which was effected at that time. Particularly, the paper studies the ways the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was solved with an aim to give the recommendation for SEPTA workers. The findings show that strike is not an effective approach to apply in an attempt to solve the problem.
Good evening ladies and gentlemen from the Southern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). It is an honor to have you in this forum and to be able to discuss and share insights on the issues that you are facing as SEPTA workers. We can also touch upon the subject of legal and arbitrary ways of solving the existing problems. It is evident that your grievances and concerns include the voting problems arising from the election that is just a week ahead. Other issues that had not been addresses and thus prompted the strike concerned wages, pensions, and healthcare. Having more than 4,700 employees refusing to report to the City Transit division for their duties s a major crisis and a considerable concern. Moreover, it is reported that you as a union under Workers Union Local 234 failed to reach an agreement with the Southern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) on the new contract. The strike has affected all trains, trolleys, and buses that operate in the city's subways under SEPTA. The purpose of today’s forum is to advise the SEPTA workers on the appropriate methods of solving the problem at hand by demonstrating the approaches that were utilized during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.
In the historical documents that describe the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, it is documented that the event in Pittsburg was the most violent during the whole riot. Thomas Alexander Scott, who was the boss at this station, was recorded saying that the workers needed some bullet treatment to see whether they like such conditions better. However, his proposal was declined by the law enforcers who declined to use firearms on the striking workers. Nevertheless, Scott's request came through on July 21, when the militia finally opened fire against the boykotting people who were throwing stones. As a result, 20 strikers were killed and 29 injured. The killings infuriated the workers who retaliated prompting the militia to take refuge in a roundhouse that belonged to the railroad as the workers set 39 buildings ablaze and destroyed 104 locomotives as well as 1,245 passenger and freight cars. The following morning, the militiamen assaulted the striking workers killing 20 more people as they made their way out of the town. Then, President Rutherford B. Hayes sent the federal troops to stop the rioters.
In Philadelphia, the workers had harassed the local militia until the federal troops were sent to contain the situation. In a town of Reading, 16 striking workers were killed by the militia. It was the railroad management that was responsible for mobilizing the militiamen to shoot the workers. On July 24, a group of angry mobs that consisted of unemployed citizens gathered to paralyze the rail traffic in Chicago, which affected both the Illinois Central and the Baltimore and Ohio railroads. Roads in Aurora, Bloomington, Peoria, Urbana, and other rail centers were also impared. Soon the coal miners joined the demonstrators out of sympathy, and the protests grew to contain about 20,000 people.
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals Thomas Drummond was at the time managing several railroads that had declared bankruptcy. He understood that ongoing strikes would only worsen the situation. Following that, he announced a ruling that all strikes are violations of the U.S. law and ought to stop immediately. Moreover, he ordered federal troops to arrest the strikers and charged them with contempt of court. Chicago Mayor Monroe Heath called for five thousand vigilantes to help reinstate order in the town. Their attempts were only partially effective, but soon came the reinforcement from the National Guard and federal troops. On July 25, there was a conflict between the police and the strikers, which came to its peak the following day. The bloody confrontations took place near the Halsted Street viaduct. The Chicago Times newspaper reported the strikers as thieves and cutthroats. The order was later restored, which was accompanied by the deaths of 20 men and boys.
In Missouri, the strikers dominated the town for almost a week after the strikes erupted on July 21. All freight traffic was halted by the workers in the industrial rail hub. Workingmen's Party decided to join the boycott and added over 500 strikers to the 1,000 of existing protestors to demonstrate solidarity. The strike caused the eruption of other riots in different towns across the coutry; people were dissatisfied with their long working hours and wished to abolish child labor. It marked the first ever general strike in the U.S. The demonstrations came to an end on July 28, 1877, when over 8,000 armed militiamen from federal troops and deputized special police contained the situation along with killing 18 people and arresting 70 strikers.
The 1877 railroads strike became a major boycot in the history of the United States that provoked a general protest in the nation. The riots significantly paralyzed the nation’s commerce since almost every sector relied on railroads to transport their goods and services. Shops were closed. The construction of a hotel in Ohio came to a halt as the protests blocked the roads that had been used for transporting the building materials. The workers’ strike also left the factories closed and caused instability in major towns. It prompted the town governors to seek help of about sixty thousand militiamen in an attempt to control the strikes. However, they still turned bloody as the troops opened fire on the strikers and killed at least one hundred rioters in the confrontations. Moreover, the protesters played a significant role in staging and setting the base for other deadly strikes that broke out in the 1880s and 1890s following the failure of reaching an amicable solution to the problems between the employers and the workers. Some of the notable effects were the 1886 Haymarket Square bombing in Chicago, the Pullman strike in 1894, and the Homestead Steel strike around Pittsburgh in 1892.
Recommendations
The strike erupted because of the workers’ dissatisfaction with the employer's decision to slash the wages without their involvement. The workers initially overthrew the authority and controlled the areas, but as the strike went on, they were unable to sustain the solidarity and unity needed to accomplish their goal. The forces of law and order were greatly deployed to silence the workers. The strike ended on August 1 the same year. The workers were forced to surrender due to the efforts of the heavily armed militia and federal troops. Most of the workers were scared of the killings perpetrated by the police.
The protests were ineffective for the workers as they ended with the situation as it was before. No salary raise was implemented, the slashed wages were not revoked, but many lives were lost. The legislation enacted was mainly directed against the positions of the workers’ union. The state employed even greater militia sources to quell such protests in the future. The reason for failure was poor organization of the strikes by the workers. The boycots were spontaneous, and in every town, people emerged in the streets on different dates while workers in other states watched. Their efforts were not well coordinated and lacked solidarity. It also gave the militia and federal troops a chance to concentrate on a small group of protesters in a given state.
In the course of the strike, the railroad brotherhoods promised to organize the workers so that they could assist them in achieving their goals. However, they proved to be ineffective. The delegates of workers were intimidated by the rail managemen...