1949 New York City taxicab strike

1949 New York City taxicab strike
DateApril 1–8, 1949
(1 week)
Location
New York City, New York, United States
Goals
  • Increased wages
  • Union recognition
Methods
Resulted inStrike broken by taxicab operators with no gains for the strikers
Parties
UMW Taxi Workers Organizing Committee Local 35
Taxicab operators in New York City

The 1949 New York City taxicab strike was a labor strike involving taxicab drivers in New York City. The strike was the result of union organization efforts carried out by a local union of the United Mine Workers who were seeking union recognition and pay increases for taxicab drivers in the city. The strike started on April 1, 1949 and was initially successful in shutting down approximately 80% of taxicab operations in the city. However, after several days, taxicab operators used strikebreakers and countered the effectiveness of the strike. The UMW officially ended the strike on April 8. Historian Graham Russell Gao Hodges claims that the UMW's mismanagement of the strike was the primary reason for its failure and states that the strike "did not result in any positive results" for the strikers.