New York City Transit Authority. Fact Finding Board.

On December 14, 1953, contract negotiations between the transit employees and the Transit Authority came to a halt. Michael J. Quill, president of the Transport Workers Union warned the T.A. that when the existing contract expired on January 1, 1954, his men would walk off their jobs. Since Quill's union represented 34,000 of the 44,000 transit employees, it was obvious that his "no contract, no work" policy would mean a complete shut-down of New York City's transportation facilities.

From the description of New York City Transit Authority. Fact Finding Board. Exhibits, 1954. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 64059089

On December 14, 1953, contract negotiations between the transit employees and the Transit Authority came to a halt. Michael J. Quill, president of the Transport Workers Union warned the T.A. that when the existing contract expired on January 1, 1954, his men would walk off their jobs. Since Quill's union represented 34,000 of the 44,000 transit employees, it was obvious that his "no contract, no work" policy would mean a complete shut-down of New York City's transportation facilities.

The T.W.U. was demanding a 25¢ an hour increase for all employees, 11 paid holidays, and a health insurance plan to be financed entirely by the T.A. These proposals with a cost of over $50,000,000 each year were labeled as "utterly fantastic" by the T.A. The Authority stated that the demands would mean a fare increase for commuters which was contrary to the welfare of the City. It also charged that acts of sabotage and slow-down techniques by T.W.U. members had cost the T.A. over $18,000,000.

The Transit Authority then hired Burton A. Zorn, a labor relations attorney, in an effort to have its 44,000 employees enjoined from striking by a State Supreme Court Order. The T.A. was studying an injunction in relation to the Condon-Wadlin Act, a state law forbidding strikes by public employees. Mr. Zorn was also concerned with the provisions of Section 876A of the Civil Practice Act applying to the use of injunctions in labor disputes.

In an effort to head off the impending strike, Mayor-elect Robert F. Wagner Jr. proposed that a fact-finding committee be appointed to look into the contract dispute. Both sides agreed to meet before the impartial committee while making it known that they would not be bound by its recommendations. The fact-finding committee began a series of hearings in February 1954, and the exhibits collected here were submitted.

From the guide to the New York City Transit Authority. Fact Finding Board. Exhibits, 1954., (Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell University.)