The Pressed Steel Car Strike of 1909 was an American labor dispute which ran from July to September in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The strike was triggered on July 10th, a payday on which many workers were shorted by the Pressed Steel Car Company.

The strike began on July 13th, and grew to include more than 8,000 workers, 3,000 of whom were also from the Standard Steel Car Company. By the next day, 500 cops began working to protect strikebreakers and evict strikers from company houses. The New York Times called the immigrant workforce “savages” and “illiterate foreigners”.

Management refused to speak with the workers’ representatives and James Rider, manager of the Pressed Steel Car Company, responded to their strike by hiring Pearl Bergoff, a notorious owner of a strike-breaking paramilitary force.

The workers were joined by members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), including founders William Trautmann and “Big Bill” Haywood, as well as “Smiling Joe” Ettor.

The walkout drew national attention when, on this day in 1909, a bloody battle took place between strikers, private security agents, and the Pennsylvania State Police. The violence began after strikers boarded a trolley to search for scabs and they were confronted by an armed deputy, who opened fire. In the fighting that followed, between 12 and 26 people were killed.

The strike was settled on September 8th when Pressed Steel Car agreed to a wage increase, the posting of wage rates, and ended abuses in company housing practices. This labor dispute would be a precursor to the Great Steel Strike of 1919.

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  • wtypstanaccount04 [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    24·
    1 year ago

    Sure why not repost my life drama from the last mega since the TANKIE mods LOCKED it like the AUTHORITARIANS they are:

    Dating struggles

    Asked out a guy for the first time in my life today. Turns out he already has a boyfriend agony so there’s another L for me. On the other hand this guy is so blob-no-thoughts that I don’t think he realized that I was asking him out. I didn’t directly ask him out but I did say I was bi and then directly after asked if he had time to do stuff this weekend, so first he fiddled through his phone and then mentioned that he had a date with his bf. This guy is peak blob-no-thoughts.

    Sexuality struggles

    Is it normal to be more attracted to one gender than another as a bisexual and then have it switch? Is it normal to be romantically attracted to girls but only sexually attracted to guys? Do note: I’m not looking to expand beyond being bisexual. That’s the only label I want to use, even if I’m technically pansexual or something.