Final answer:
The Pullman Strike of 1894 was the strike that involved 80,000 workers and affected 2/3 of the US railways. Stirred by unjust wage cuts and harsh living conditions, the strike caused a nationwide train stoppage disrupting the entire country's transportation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The labor strike that involved 80,000 workers affecting 2/3 of the US railways was the Pullman Strike of 1894. Caused primarily by factors such as overconstruction, poor financing, unjust wage cuts, and harsh living conditions, this event greatly disrupted the US railway system and subsequently the whole country's transportation. The strike led by Eugene V. Debs, the president of the American Railway Union, caused almost all trains in the country to stop, thereby creating a nationwide train stoppage.
Company owner George Pullman had fired half of the factory's workforce and cut the remaining workers' wages, while maintaining the same high rents and prices in the company homes and stores. This precipitated a strike starting on May 11, 1894, which soon gained nationwide traction affecting a vast proportion of the railway system. The strike ended abruptly on July 13, with no labor gains and a significant loss in terms of public opinion.
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