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.

Reviews

Freeman (history, Columbia) recounts the history of the Transport Workers Union, from its beginnings in the mid-1930s in New York City, through the traumatic city-wide transit strike, to the death of flamboyant leader Mike Quill in 1966. In this carefully researched, but excessively detailed and ploddingly written account, Freeman shows how a small group of youthful but cunning and resourceful transit workers banded together. This group, which achieved national prominence and influenced future unions in the public sector, enlisted both the Communist party and the Catholic Church to shape a union of mostly Irish Catholic workers who would ultimately dominate the city's public transit. A major contribution to the history of American trade unions. Highly recommended.
- Harry Frumerman, formerly with Hunter Coll., CUNY
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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