1966 New York City transit strike

The 1966 New York City transit strike was a strike in New York City called by the Transport Workers Union (TWU) and Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) after the expiration of their contract with the New York City Transit Authority (TA). It was the first strike against the TA; pre-TWU transit strikes in 1905, 1910, 1916 and 1919 against the then-private transit companies had all failed. There had also been some partial TWU strikes in the 1930s, but no citywide actions. The strike led to the passage of the Taylor Law, which redefined the rights and limitations of unions for public employees in New York.

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 commuters. 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.

The twelve-day strike began on New Year's Day; the last trains rolled at 8:02 am. An injunction to end the strike was issued later that day, under the 1947 Condon-Wadlin Act. On January 2, the union reduced its economic demands, but the TA responded only by getting a judge's order for the arrest of Quill and eight other union leaders. (The others were 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."

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