Description
This history of New York transit workers from the Great Depression to the monumental 1966 transit strike, shows how, through collective action, the men and women who operated the world's largest transit system brought about a virtual revolution in their daily lives. Detailed descriptions of both transit work and transit workers, and a full account of the formation and development of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) provide new insight into the nature of modern industrial unionism. Particular attention is paid to the role of Communists and veterans of the Irish Republican Army, including TWU president Michael J. Quill, in organizing and leading the union, as well as to the Catholic labor activists who were the principal union dissidents. In Transit also explores the intense political struggles over the New York transit system. Its portrait of Fiorello La Guardia's determined opposition to the TWU belies his pro-labor reputation. The TWU's pioneering role in public sector unionism is linked to worker militancy and the union's deep involvement in New York politics. By combining social and political history with the study of collective bargaining, In Transit makes a major contribution to the history of American labor, radicalism, and urban politics.
