TWU Mourns Mike Quill -- Fifty Years Ago Today
On January 28, 1966, the mighty heart of the TWU's founder, Mike Quill, stopped beating. An Irish nationalist who was a dispatch rider for the IRA while still in his teens, Quill came to America in 1926, first working a night gate security man for the IRT and then becoming a Clerk or "ticket chopper." On April 12, 1934, fighting back against 12 hour days, six days a week, at 66 cents an hour, Quill and six other men -- Austin Hogan, John Santo, Tom O'Shea, Douglas MacMahon, Harry Sacher, and Maurice Forge, founded the TWU. Today, we remember Quill primarily for his key role in our first citywide transit strike which began on January 1, 1966 and ended the morning of January 13th. Quill, ordered to jail along with other union leaders, suffered a heart attack in jail and then another, fatal attack after his release. But he and his leadership team had won a famous victory for the transit rank and file -- the capstone of many hard-fought battles from the 30's onward.
Among the most moving and powerful tributes to Mike Quill is the eulogy given by his wife, Shirley, at a massive funeral service for Mike that was held in February of that year.
In the photo, Mike Quill is led away to jail by NYPD Detectives at the order of then Mayor John Lindsay after he would not call off the transit strike.
