1966 New York City transit strike

NYC transit workers strike
DateJanuary 1–13, 1966
Location
New York City
Parties
Number
33,000 transit workers[1]

In 1966, the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) and Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) called a strike action in New York City 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.[2] The strike led to the passage of the Taylor Law, which redefined the rights and limitations of unions for public employees in New York.[3]

The strikers were led initially by the Irish-born 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.

  1. ^ Chan, Sewell (2005-04-04). "25 Years Ago, Subways and Buses Stopped Running". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  2. ^ The History of TWU Archived 2005-12-24 at the Wayback Machine on the site of the TWU. Accessed 26 October 2007.
  3. ^ The history of the Taylor Law: How teacher strikes became illegal Archived 2012-01-14 at the Wayback Machine on the site of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). Accessed 26 October 2007.