November 1 - Deadly Consequences of Scabbing

On this day in Labor History the year was 1918. 

That was the day that bringing in a scab driver to run an elevated train in Brooklyn, New York ended in tragedy.   

Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers were out on strike against the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Co.. 

The company had fired several union members for wearing union pins.

To keep the trains moving, the company hired replacements and put them to work with little preparation. 

Edward Luciano received far less than the 60 hours of training that operators typically received before he made his fateful run. 

The next day the New York Times reported on the deadly results. 

A Brighton Beach Train of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, made up five wooden cars of the oldest type in use, which was speeding with a rush hour crowd to make up lost time on its way from Park Row to Coney Island, jumped the track shortly before 7 o-clock last evening on a sharp curve approaching the tunnel at Malbone Street, in Brooklyn, and plunged into a concrete partition between the north and south bound tracks.” 

At least 93 people died. 

Some estimates were more than 100 were killed. 

The operator and several company officials were put on trial for manslaughter. 

No one was found guilty. 

The company did however pay out damages to some families. 

Negotiations between the company and the union would continue until 1920. 

The union eventually won most its demands.

In the years after the crash new safety measures were implemented for elevated trains to help guard against human error.