1973 New York City gravediggers' strike

In 1973, approximately 1,700 gravediggers at 47 cemeteries in the New York metropolitan area went on strike due to disagreements over the terms of a new labor contract. The strike, which initially only affected Cypress Hills Cemetery, began on April 12 and had spread to every cemetery whose workers were represented by the Cemetery Workers and Greens Attendants Union Local 365 by June 10. Within a month of this, on July 6, the strike ended after the union and cemetery management agreed to a new contract that included wage increases and a new pension plan.

Following a strike in 1970, Local 365 had negotiated a three-year contract with the management of 47 cemeteries in the metropolitan area that was set to expire on December 31, 1972. This date passed without a replacement due to disagreements over the terms of the contract, with the union seeking weekly wage increases of $12 in each year of the contract, among other benefits regarding pension plans and insurance policies. In January 1973, the union voted to authorize strike action. Over the next several months, negotiations continued with little success. On April 12, the union officially began a strike against Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, and, by the end of the month, the strike had spread to three cemeteries in the region.

On June 10, the strike spread to all 47 cemeteries. Several days later, Governor Nelson Rockefeller issued a state executive order mandating that the union and cemeteries seek mediation and, possibly, binding arbitration. On June 20, Attorney General Louis J. Lefkowitz began to take legal action to end the strike. Local President Sam Cimaglia defied court orders to end the strike, but on July 6, the union and cemeteries came to an agreement that saw an immediate end to the strike, with the gravediggers receiving their requested wage increases and a new pension plan. Discussing the strike in 2021, labor journalist Kim Kelly said that the gravediggers' action was emblematic of a renewed labor militancy that was seen in the United States during the 1970s.

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