New York City Transit Authority. Fact Finding Board. Exhibits, 1954.

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New York City Transit Authority. Fact Finding Board. Exhibits, 1954.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/64059089

Exhibits presented to the New York City Transit Authority Fact Finding Board by the Transit Workers Union of America and the New York City Transit Authority. 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.

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Cornell University Library

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SNAC Resource ID: 7908054

Cornell University Library

Related Entities

There are 3 Entities related to this resource.

New York City Transit Authority

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6769n5k (corporateBody)

Transport Workers' Union of America

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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 o...

New York City Transit Authority. Fact Finding Board.

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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. ...