workingclasshistory:

On this day 14 January 1895, 5000 trolley car workers in Brooklyn went on strike for shorter working hours. They also demanded their employers to cease instructing their conductors to ignore the 10 mph speed limit, as this endangered motormen and the public.
Railroad companies had leased their track systems to Brooklyn Heights Railroad Company (BHRC), organised a new company (Long Island Traction Company) and then bought the BHRC again. This meant that they were not incorporated in New York so did not have to follow the New York taxes and regulations. One of these laws was that labourers could not work more than 10 hours in a 12 hour period. Companies did not pay workers for any time not spent running the trolleys; including meal times and time spent waiting for trolleys at depots.
The workers were represented by the Knights of Labour union. Their nationwide membership numbered just below 100,000 by 1890. The Knights of Labour’s executive board had decided enough was enough. A city-wide strike had now been endorsed on Sunday January 13.
On Monday, workers went on strike and halted the Brooklyn trolley system. What started out as peaceful, soon became violent as companies realised they could not just replace workers with people from other states. Crowds argued with the militia, troops charged and bayoneted men. Some policemen were sympathetic with the strikers, some rushed with clubs towards the crowds.
Eventually without achieving their aims, workers called off the strike. Hundreds of injuries had taken place and the tense atmosphere remained for several months. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported one of the nights as the “most turbulent than ever known in the history of the city.” https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1899287170256424/?type=3