On this day in 1974, 700 unionized Baltimore municipal workers vote to accept a new contract giving them a 20¢ per hour raise, but thousands of other workers are dissatisfied with the deal. They demand a 50¢ raise. Defying their union, 1000 sanitation workers walk off the job the next day. Over the coming days, as trash piles grow in the streets, thousands of sewer workers, parks and rec workers, highway workers, and zookeepers join the strike, forming picket lines across the city. When prison guards and police join, mayhem ensues. Trash piles are set on fire, businesses are looted, and prison supervisors are taken hostage by detainees at a juvenile detention center. Two weeks in, workers and the city negotiate an incremental 70¢ raise over two years ending the strike.