On this day in labor history, the year was 1980. That was the day New York City transit workers in TWU Local 100 ended their 11-day walkout.
The strike occurred in the context of hard times for New York City workers. The city had teetered on the edge of municipal bankruptcy just a few years earlier. Unrelenting inflation and austerity measures against municipal workers had taken its toll.
Years of recession meant freezes in hiring and promotions. It also meant increasingly dangerous working conditions. The MTA cutback funding for basic maintenance, investment and service. Derailments, accidents and fires were common and crime soared at stations and bus stops. Transit workers found themselves operating malfunctioning equipment and confronted by frustrated, angry riders.
With wages frozen, Cost of Living Adjustments, or COLA, capped and the establishment of a three-tier pension plan, workers had had enough. They walked out on the first of the month, demanding a 30% wage increase, quarterly COLA and increased vacation time.
Mayor Ed Koch opposed workers demands, fearing any victory for the union would ruin upcoming contract negotiations with the city’s 300,000 municipal workers. He also used the strike as an occasion to whip up anti-union sentiment more generally.
While the contract was voted up by a three to one margin, labor historian Joshua Freeman notes that, “the 1980 strike ended up in victory that many transit workers saw as a defeat.” Workers won a 17% wage increase over two years, a 3% cost of living adjustment and increased contributions to the health and welfare fund. But they also had to concede to reduced breaks, two-tiered wages, and increased job duties across classifications.
May 4 - UE Beats Back HUAC in Dayton
May 3 - First Workers Compensation Law is Passed
May 2 - Our Thing is DRUM!
May 1 - Mayday Marchers Attacked in Cleveland
April 30 - Refinery Workers Walk Off the Job
April 29 - Allis-Chalmers and the Road to Taft-Hartley
April 28 - OSHA Goes Into Effect
April 27 - Disaster in West Virginia
April 26 - National Guard Ousts Montgomery Ward CEO
April 25 - UAW Mobilizes Against Taft-Hartley
April 24 - The California Spinach Riot
April 23 - Sitting Down for Dignity at Ford
April 22 - The Red Jacket Mine Explosion
April 21 - The Hated Taylor Law Takes Effect
April 20 - Deepwater Horizon Explosion Kills 11
April 19 -The Daughters of Mother Jones
April 18 - We Have Fed You All A thousand Years
April 17 - Fatal Explosion in West, Texas
April 16 - Jacob Coxey is Born
April 15 - Telephone Girls Cripple New England Bell
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
Heal, Survive & Thrive!
Summarize | رادیو سامرایز
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast