Transport Workers' Union of America

Much of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) history centers around the fiery figure of Michael Quill, President of the TWU from 1935 to 1966. Quill, born in Kilgarven, Ireland in 1905, started with the IRT subway as a ticket taker. It was only with the financial support of the Communist Party that Quill, together with Maurice Forge, Austin Hogan and Harry Sacher, was able to lead a successful organizing drive among New York City transit workers beginning in 1934. With Quill as President, the TWU organized subway, bus and taxi workers in New York and improved wages and working conditions. When he was elected to the City Council (1937-1939, 1943-1947), Quill also used that position to fight for the transit workers, even when it meant going against the American Labor Party, his base of support. In the post-war period, Quill split with the Communist Party over a fare increase and he then joined in the CIO effort to eliminate communist-dominated unions from the organization. By the 1950's, the TWU was the exclusive bargaining agent for New York transit. The usual pattern of threatened strike and last minute negotiation was upset in 1966 when Quill led the TWU out on a massive strike. In spite of being jailed for refusal to abide by a court order, TWU officers and New York City reached a settlement. Quill died soon afterwards of a heart attack.

The Transport Workers Union of America came into existence in 1934 as a result of organizing efforts by a core group of workers on New York's Interborough Rapid Transit system, with assistance from Communist Party activists. After slow gains among workers in all branches of NYC transit, the union affiliated with the CIO in 1937 and was granted a broad jurisdiction over all categories of transport workers. Under the dynamic leadership of President Michael Quill and a group of organizers who shared his Irish nationalist background and radical outlook, the union soon grew to more than 40,000 members and began organizing nationwide. By the early 1970s the union claimed more than 100,000 members in more than 100 locals. Increasingly bitter disagreements between Quill and the Communist Party after World War II resulted in a sweeping purge of Communists from the union and the consolidation of Quill's control.

The Transport Workers Union of America came into existence in 1934 as a result of organizing efforts by a core group of workers on New York's Interborough Rapid Transit System, with assistance from Communist Party activists. After slow gains among NYC subway and bus workers and a brief period of affiliation with the International Association of Machinists, the union affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1937 and was granted a broad jurisdiction over all categories of transport workers. Under the dynamic leadership of President Michael J. (Mike) Quill and a group of organizers who shared his Irish nationalist background and radical outlook, the union soon grew to more than 40,000 members and began organizing nationwide. Early TWU activists Maurice Forge, Harry Sacher, Doublas McMahon and Austin Hogan are well represented in the collection, as is Matthew Guinan, who succeeded Quill as president. The largest and most powerful locals of the TWUA have been Local 100 (NYC) and Local 234 (Philadelphia), but by the post-World War II period the TWUA also had a substantial presence in Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Miami, New Orleans, Omaha, and other cities and towns across the nation. In the post-World War II years, the TWUA branched out to organize new categories of workers, including railroad workers and airlines employees. Many new locals were created to accommodate these additions to the union.

The Transport Workers Union of America came into existence in 1934 as a result of organizing efforts by a core group of workers on New York's Interborough Rapid Transit system, with assistance from Communist Party activists. After slow gains among NYC subway and bus workers and a brief period of affiliation with the International Association of Machinists, the union affiliated with the CIO in 1937 and was granted a broad jurisdiction over all categories of transport workers. Under the dynamic leadership of President Michael J. Quill and a group of organizers who shared his Irish nationalist background and radical outlook, the union soon grew to more than 40,000 members and began organizing nationwide. The largest and most powerful locals of the TWUA have been Local 100 (NYC) and Local 234 (Philadelphia), but by the post-World War II period the TWU also had a substantial presence in Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Miami, New Orleans, Omaha, and other cities and towns across the nation.

Increasingly bitter disagreements between Quill and the Communist Party after World War II, culminating in a battle over endorsement of Henry Wallace in the 1948 presidential campaign, resulted in a sweeping purge of Communists and their allies from the union and the consolidation of Quill's control. The union's radical traditions lived on in its last-ditch opposition to the merger of the AFL and the CIO in 1954, in official TWUA support for the civil rights movement, and in Quill's personal commitment to Irish nationalism and eventual reconciliation with a few of his old leftist cronies. Intensive post-war organizing of TWA, Pan American Airways and other airline workers, and a merger with the United Railway Workers Union in 1954 brought new groups of workers into the union. A pattern of militant rhetoric, modest contract gains and amicable compromise with Democratic city administrations brought Quill under growing pressure from dissatisfied members and helped propel the union into the January 1966 NYC transit strike. The strike brought court injunctions and imprisonment for top TWUA leaders. Quill, in failing health, collapsed while in prison and died a few days later.

Matthew Guinan, Quill's successor as president, inaugurated a more conventional, low-profile style of leadership. By the early 1970s the union claimed more than 100,000 members in more than 100 locals.

Transit workers employed on New York's Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) began organizing a union in 1934; the effort soon spread to the other two private transit companies in the New York system, the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Co. (BMT) and the Independent Subway System (ISS, later IND), and the TWU was chartered in the same year. The union's early activists were mostly Irish immigrants who came to the United States after the Irish Rebellion of 1916. The men who led the TWU organizing campaign brought the radical legacy of Irish labor leaders James Connolly and James Larkin to the New York transit system.

The Irish leadership of the TWU first approached fraternal associations in the Irish community and the Catholic Church for support, with little success. They finally accepted the assistance of the Communist Party, which had targeted New York City's transit workers as one of several large industrial workforces it wanted to bring under its political influence. The Party provided funds and an office, printed leaflets and brought in volunteers who could distribute them without facing loss of their jobs. Most important, it provided talented organizers who brought the infant union to maturity. Maurice Forge, Austin Hogan, and Harry Sacher became full time TWU organizers on the Party payroll. Forge, a commercial artist, handled the TWU's publicity and developed the Transport Workers Bulletin, the union's newsletter. Harry Sacher, an attorney, handled the TWU's legal affairs. Hogan took charge of day to day organizing efforts. Douglas McMahon, a BMT worker, was also hired as a full time organizer. In 1935 Mike Quill, a Kerry native and former ticket agent who had led early organizing efforts among Irish transit workers, became the first president of the TWU. Quill's charisma and leadership abilities quickly made him a key player in both the labor and political arenas in New York. He led the union until his death in 1966.

Eventually affiliating with the fledgling Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), the TWU soon became the bargaining agent for all New York City transit systems, and branched out to form locals across the country. By the 1950s the union boasted a membership of more than 100,000. Quill broke sharply with the Communist Party in the late 1940s, drove the most prominent Communist sympathizers from positions in the union, and took the TWU into new fields of organizing. TWU locals were established among railroad and airlines workers, utility workers and taxi drivers, among other ventures. These initiatives were continued under the presidency of Matthew Guinan and his successors in the office, although the decline in railroad employment and economic setbacks in other sectors resulted in some losses of membership. With a strong anti-discrimination tradition, the TWU pioneered in the formation of integrated locals in the south, and participated actively in the Civil Rights movement.

The international union remained based, and its membership concentrated, in the New York area. New York Local 100 has remained the largest and most influential in the TWU. The history of Local 100 is bound up in the labor and municipal history of New York City, with the Local facing bitter opposition from several mayors, from private employers, and, in recent decades, from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. In the years following World War II the Local worked to reinstate returning veterans to the jobs and seniority they held prior to their war service. It won the battle for the five day, forty hour week. By 1950 Local 100 had organized the transit workers on the municipal subway and bus systems as well as the employees of most of the private bus companies in the New York metropolitan region. TWU contracts provided for a closed shop, wage increases, paid vacations, and significant improvements in working conditions. After an intense struggle Local 100 also defeated the unsound IRT Pension Plan and negotiated the return to union control of all funds contributed to the plan by the transit workers.

The Local 100 Education Department offered films, lectures, and classes where members could learn the skills of union participation including negotiation and grievance procedures and parliamentary procedure. They could also pursue personal interests such as improving English language skills, American history, photography and other hobbies. The Sports Department organized activities such as bowling leagues, baseball, softball, and football teams. Union-sponsored leisure activities also included choral singing, classes for the wives and children of members and annual outings.

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The Transport Workers Union of America, founded in 1934 and led until 1966 by its charismatic Irish-American leader, Michael J. (Mike) Quill, initially organized subway workers and bus drivers in the New York City area. Eventually the union chartered locals in cities and towns across the country, and branched out to include taxi drivers, railway employees, airline workers and utility workers among its members.

Transit workers employed on New York's Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) began organizing a union in 1934; the effort soon spread to the other two private transit companies in the New York system, the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Company (BMT) and the Independent Subway System (ISS, later IND). After a brief period of affliation with the International Association of Machinists, the TWU was chartered by the fledgling Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in May 1937, with jurisdiction over "all workers employed in, on, or about any and all passenger and other transportation facilities and public utilities." The union's early activists were mostly Irish immigrants who came to the United States after the Irish Rebellion of 1916. The men who led the TWU organizing campaign brought the radical legacy of Irish labor leaders James Connolly and James Larkin to the New York transit system.

The Irish leadership of the TWU first approached fraternal associations in the Irish community and the Catholic Church for support, with little success. They finally accepted the assistance of the Communist Party, which had targeted New York City's transit workers as one of several large industrial workforces it wanted to bring under its political influence. The Party provided funds and an office, printed leaflets and brought in volunteers who could distribute them without facing loss of their jobs. Most important, it provided talented organizers who brought the infant union to maturity. Maurice Forge, Austin Hogan, and Harry Sacher became full time TWU organizers on the Party payroll. Forge, a commercial artist, handled the TWU's publicity and developed the Transport Workers Bulletin, the union's newsletter. Harry Sacher, an attorney, handled the TWU's legal affairs. Hogan took charge of day to day organizing efforts. Douglas McMahon, a BMT worker, was also hired as a full time organizer. In 1935 Mike Quill, a Kerry native and former ticket agent who had led early organizing efforts among Irish transit workers, became the first president of the TWU. Quill's charisma and leadership abilities quickly made him a key player in both the labor and political arenas in New York. He ran for City Council three times (1937, 1939 and 1943), first n the American Labor Party ticket and then as an independent. As a Council member Quill sponsored or supported a variety of measures designed to improve working conditions, housing and health care for for workers, and progressive legislation in general.

The unification of the New York City subway system under one transit authority in 1941 greatly improved the union's bargaining position. Aggressive organizing campaigns soon resulted in the formation of TWU locals across the country -- sometimes competing with or supplanting older American Federation of Labor transit unions.. By the 1950s the union boasted a membership of more than 100,000, and had organized the municipal bus lines and most of the private bus companies in the New York Metropolitan region.

In an atmosphere of Cold War suppression of radical influence in the labor movement, Mike Quill broke sharply with the Communist Party in the late 1940s, drove the most prominent Communist sympathizers from positions in the union, and took the TWU into new fields of organizing. TWU locals were established among railroad and airlines workers, utility workers and taxi drivers, among others. In the 1940s and 50s the TWU was a pioneer within the labor movement in its innovative and extensive use of bith radio and television to get its message across to the general public. With a strong anti-discrimination tradition, the TWU pioneered in the formation of integrated locals in the South, and participated actively in the Civil Rights movement.

After a long period of relatively amicable relations between the Union and the City (especially under Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr.), Quill came under increasing pressure to improve wages and benefits, and finally called a city-wide transit strike as John V. Lindsay took office as mayor in January 1966. The bitter strike lasted for twelve days, and the Transit Authority secured an injunction against the Union in an effort to end it. Quill and other TWU officers were charged with contempt for ignoring the injuction (and some were jailed). Quill himself suffered a heart attack, was hospitalized and died, at the age of 61, shortly before a settlement was reached.

TWU Secretary-Treasurer (and President of NYC Local 100) Matthew Guinan immediately succeeded Quill as president. Mild-mannered Guinan was the antithesis of the colorful Quill with his heavy brogue and combative manner, but the new president soon established his credentials as an effective negotiator. He engineered the New York City settlement, and re-negotiated all 27 of the TWU's contracts within his first two years in office. He was noted for his grasp of economic data and the other statistical details involved in hammering out contracts. Guinan expanded TWU organizing efforts in the airline industry and took a special interest in the union's railroad locals. Irish-born, like Quill, he closely followed nationalist politics in Ireland, and was a devotee of Irish culture.

Under succeeding presidents Sonny Hall, John Lawe and James C. Little the union has continued to diversify in membership. As of this writing the TWU has four main divisions: Railroad; Gaming; Airline; Transit; and Utility, University and Service. The Union has 114 autonomous locals representing over 200,000 members and retirees in 22 states around the country. But transit workers, numbering some 130,000, are the still the core group of TWU members. The international union remains based, and its membership concentrated, in the New York area, and New York Local 100 has remained the largest in the TWU. The history of Local 100 is closely bound up in the labor and municipal history of New York City, with the Local facing tough opposition from several mayors, from private employers, and, in recent decades, from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. In New York, as in the rest of the country the transit workers have faced severe challenges posed by recession and municipal budget cuts, and downsizing through automation.

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