Vincent Sombrotto
| Vincent Raymond Sombrotto | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 15, 1923 Manhattan, New York |
| Died | January 10, 2013 (aged 89) Port Washington, New York |
| Occupation | Labor leader, Letter carrier |
| Spouse(s) | Rae Sombrotto |
Vincent Raymond Sombrotto (June 15, 1923 – January 10, 2013) was a letter carrier at Grand Central Station in New York City, and the 16th president of the NALC between 1978 and 2002. He was born in Manhattan in 1923. Sombrotto became an official member of the NALC in 1947 and played a huge part in the U.S. postal strike of 1970. Sombrotto helped to expand the NALC into more than 100 cities and involved more than 200,000 new members. He retired in 2002 and finished with over than 300,000 members but died in 2013 aged 89 at Port Washington, New York. He is survived by his wife Rae, 7 children and 14 grandchildren.
Vincent Raymond Sombrotto was born on June 15, 1923 in Manhattan, New York. His parents were Raymond and Agnes Sombrotto. His mother supported the family by working as a seamstress.
During World War II Vincent Sombrotto, wishing to serve his country, served in the US Navy.
After World War II Mr. Sombrotto worked as a truck driver. He took a part-time job sorting mail at Christmas in a local Post Office. For most of the next 30 years he worked as a letter carrier delivering mail from Grand Central post office in Manhattan New York.
In July 1969 Mr Sombrotto supported a mass sick call of Postal Workers in Bronx New York.
On March 1970 members of National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 36 met in Manhattan, New York City and voted to call a wildcat strike. Vincent Sombrotto and the members of the NALC began picketing the next day. At first the strike was just in New York City but soon it grew to more than 210,000 workers across the entire country.
President Richard Nixon appeared on national television and ordered the employees back to work, but this only stiffened the will of existing workers, angry strikers, and workers in 671 places in other cities joined the strike.
At the time, postal employees were not permitted by law to bargain collectively. Striking postal workers felt they had very low wages and that working conditions were poor, unsanitary, and unsafe. The immediate trigger for the strike was an act of Congress to increase the salaries of postal workers by only 4%, while Congress raised their own pay by 41%.
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