Salty Words from Mike Quill on the 1966 Transit Strike
On January 1st, 1966 at 8:02 am the last trains rolled out to New Yorkers. Over the next twelve days all subway and bus service was brought to a standstill while Mayor John Lindsay battled with Mike Quill, President of the Transit Workers Union.
The longest service strike in New York history culminated with the arrest of nine TWU committee members, including Quill, on the grounds that the strike violated an injunction filed under the 1947 Condon-Wadlin Act. The strike began on Mayor Lindsay's first day in office and was the first of several municipal employee strikes that dogged his tenure.
Fifty years ago today Mike Quill gave a press conference to reinforce the unyielding stance of the transit workers, "We will not settle for one penny less!" He assured the reporters that negotiations will continue with other representatives in the union in his absence and responded slyly to questions from the huddle of reporters.
Quill was notorious for his quick wit and salty language. When asked how many times he has been in jail he replied, "All my family were a group of jailbirds...it was was years, I cannot count them all. I lost their long and bloody score." When one reporter asks who he holds responsible for the arrest Quill fires back, "The editorial writers for the New York Times!"
Later, a reporter described the scene as the men were arrested, "The pandemonium broke loose, the reporters, photographers, everybody just crowded in... into a tremendous knot around Mr. Quill."
Though you couldn't tell from his vigor in this recording, Quill was suffering from heart problems and released to a hospital shortly after being arrested. Though his health seemed to improve, on January 28th he suffered a fatal heart attack, three days after the strike was fully settled. The negotiations resulted in a package worth over $60 million in wage increases and benefits.
Originally from a small village in Ireland, Quill participated in the Irish Civil War as a dispatch rider for the IRA. He moved to the United States when he was 21 and began working with his uncle at the privately owned IRT, the original New York subway line, a system which corresponds to the modern day numbered transit lines.
Recordings of Mayor Lindsay on the 1966 Transit Strike:
January 2nd, 1966 - Press Conference