| 1966 New York City Transit Strike |
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| 1960s in rail transport | |
| new york city subway history | |
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The strikers were led initially by the Irish -born Michael J. "Mike" Quill , the TWU's founder, who had been the union's president since its founding. The strike effectively ended all service on the Subway and Buses in the city, affecting millions of Commuter s. It was an ominous beginning for the mayoralty of John V. Lindsay , but is perhaps better remembered for the jailing of Quill and for his death only weeks afterwards. CHRONOLOGY The twelve day strike began on . On January 2 , the union reduced its economic demands, but the TA responsed only by getting a judge's order for the arrest of Quill and eight other union leaders (Quill, Matthew Guinan, Frank Sheehan, Daniel Gilmartin, Ellis Van Riper, and Mark Kavanagh of the TWU and John Rowland, William Mangus, and Frank Kleess of the ATU). The arrests were set for 1 a.m. on January 4 . Quill was obviously in ill health, but immediately before his arrest he told reporters at the Americana Hotel, "The judge can drop dead in his black robes. I don't care if I rot in jail. I will not call off the strike." Quill spent little time in jail: his poor health soon had him transferred to , MacMahon announced that the union was recommending settlement. The package, worth over $60 million, included wages increases from $3.18 to $4.14 an hour, an additional paid holiday, increased pension benefits, and other gains. Gains averaged nine percent for the next eight years. Quill's health at first seemed to be improving; he was actually released from hospital . CONTEXT Democratic New York City mayor Robert Wagner has granted Collective Bargaining rights to city employees in 1958. This led to the unions replacing Tammany Hall as the city's most powerful political force. Wagner formed a close alliance with the public-sector unions. Reformist Republican John Lindsay won the November 1965 mayoral election by campaigining against the city's often Corrupt Political Machine s. With the transit contract set to expire the same day Lindsay would take office, the stage was set for confrontation. Lindsay's "Protestant rectitude" proved no match for the "fiery" Quill. The true sources of power in New York became clear, a point that would be further driven home by 1967 and 1968 teachers strikes and a 1968 strike by sanitation workers. By the time Lindsay ran for re-election in 1969 as the candidate of the Liberal Party Of New York , he had made his peace with the public sector unions, and ultimately won their support. SEE ALSO NOTES |
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