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<v Speaker 1>On this day and working class history. The fourteenth of

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<v Speaker 1>January and on the fourteenth of January nineteen twenty six,

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<v Speaker 1>a strike broke out among all grades of worker on

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<v Speaker 1>the Sierra Leone government railway. The strike united precariously employed

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<v Speaker 1>African daily wage labourers with Creole clerks and artisans who

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<v Speaker 1>were being forced to in exam to qualify for pay rises,

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<v Speaker 1>whilst their European colleagues were not. The day the strike

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<v Speaker 1>broke out, the British colonial government put the country under

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<v Speaker 1>virtual martial law, and a few days later railway management

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<v Speaker 1>fired many strikers from their jobs. In response, the strikers

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<v Speaker 1>showed increasing militancy, removing the rails in front of the

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<v Speaker 1>manager's train and attacking it with sticks, removing rails at curves,

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<v Speaker 1>and pulling down telegraph polls to prevent communication by the

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<v Speaker 1>colonial administration. The strikers held out for six weeks, supported

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<v Speaker 1>by a strie like fund that raised hundreds of pounds

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<v Speaker 1>from supporters across West Africa, but eventually the strikers were defeated. However,

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<v Speaker 1>the strike did set an example that would be followed

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<v Speaker 1>by more groups of workers in the country, and the

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<v Speaker 1>sources maps and all of our anniversaries each day. Check

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<v Speaker 1>out the on this Day section of our stories at

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<v Speaker 1>at stories, stopworkingclasshistory dot com, and if you value our work,

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<v Speaker 1>support us at Patreon dot com slash working class History.

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<v Speaker 1>Links in the show notes the music by a Decade

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<v Speaker 1>See you tomorrow