"The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, “the largest strike anywhere in the
world in the 19th century,” according to one historian, was the social
earthquake of the Gilded Age, bursting post-Civil War illusions of
American immunity to European-style class conflict. To keep afloat
during the long depression of the 1870s, the railroads first engaged in
wasting rate wars; then, to recoup their losses, colluded to cut wages
to $1 a day, beginning July 1, 1877. The Ohio Bureau of Labor
Statistics estimated that $1 a day represented “absolute poverty.”
That’s about what I’d expect from the current staff of the Post Gazette in regards to slanting/ researching a story. Also, the Post Gazette makes it sound like Pittsburgh was the only place where similar problems were occurring at the time (there were others although Pittsburgh was the major confrontation).
If you do a complete history of the event, the average citizen of the area was quite happy when order was restored. The mob rule led to some real problems and plenty of fear throughout the city. Also, the story about the railroad’s agents burning old cars for insurance purposes was commonly believed but never really proved. I believe most historians of the event consider it to be an urban myth. Someone who has more time than me can look it up but I believe the Pennsy had a hard time collecting insurance and took a major financial loss due to the incident.
I don’t know about the 1870’s but did a paper in college long, long ago about the early 1880’s and I seem to remember the the average annual USA household income at that time was estimated at about $325 or $330 a year. Considering they worked 6 days a week back then, a $1 per day wage meant about $310 per year. An income of $600-$700 was very good in those days. Its hard to compare with today’s world since agriculture was so big back then and many of its laborers worked for Board and Keep plus maybe 15-20 dollars a month (and when times were bad it was just Board and Keep plus some occassional pocket money).