New York City Transit Authority Fact Finding Panel Records, 1953-1954
Collection Number: 5114
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
New York City Transit Authority Fact Finding Panel Records, 1953-1954
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5114
Abstract:
Exhibits and briefs regarding a contract dispute between the Transit Workers Union
of America (TWU) and the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) presented to the
New York City Transit Fact Finding Board by the TWU, the Civil Service Forum of New
York City, the American Federation of State, County, & Municipal Employees (AFSCME),
Local 380, AFL, and the NYCTA.
Creator:
New York City Transit Authority
Quanitities:
0.5 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
The New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) was created by Governor Thomas E. Dewey
on March 20, 1953, removing the control of the city's public transportation from the
New York City Board of Transportation (NYCBOT) and placing it under the control of
a public authority. The three subway companies, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company
(IRT), the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), and the public Independent
Subway System (IND), which had been unified under direct city control in 1940 under
the NYCBOT were now under the control of the NYCTA, along with the surface transportation
systems. The governor created this authority, over the objections of many New York
City politicians, liberals, and labor groups, to address the major financial issues
faced by the system. The NYCTA signed a 10-year lease with the city on June 1, 1953
and took over operations on June 15, 1953, after surviving a suit brought by taxpayers
and the city itself, alleging that the NYCTA was unconstitutional.
Under the NYCTA, the transit system was to be fully supported by the fares paid by
its riders. As a result, the fare was raised to 15 cents, and a token system was introduced.
The fare increase, however, was not enough to close the operating deficit and the
NYCTA began to look at other ways to defray costs, including service cuts and elimination
of union positions. The president of the Transit Workers Union (TWU), Michael J. Quill,
threatened a rule-book slow-down unless the NYCTA negotiated a new contract with the
TWU as well as discussing service cuts with the union. Quill asked Mayor Vincent Impelliteri
to appoint an arbitration panel; after first refusing, the Mayor eventually agreed,
and the matter of service cuts was resolved. However, new contract provisions were
not.
On December 14, 1953, contract negotiations between the transit employees and the
Transit Authority came to a halt. Quill warned the NYCTA 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.
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. With the threat of a strike momentarily
mitigated, Mayor Wagner was able to create a three-member panel for the fact-finding
committee. The fact-finding committee began a series of hearings in January 1954 where
the following records were submitted by both the NYCTA and the transit employees for
consideration.
Additional information on the history of the Mayor's Fact-Finding Committee from:
Roess, Roger P. and Gene Sansone. The Wheels That Drove New York: A History of the
New York City Transit System. New York: Springer, 2013.
Inclusive date range: 1953-1954
Bulk date: 1954
This collection is comprised of briefs, statements of support, and exhibits submitted
by the TWU and its supporters to the New York City Transit Fact Finding Board in support
of their proposed contract provisions; the collection also contains the exhibits presented
by the NYCTA in support of their position that they could not meet the TWU's demands.
In addition to the TWU's proposed contract revisions and supporting exhibits, this
collection also contains two supplemental briefs from the Civil Service Forum of New
York, a collection of union exhibits documenting various contracts between public
and private transportation companies and municipal authorities; of note is the arbitration
award and agreement between Boston's Metropolitan Transit Authority, precursor to
the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA), and the Amalgamated Association of
Street, Electric Railway, and Motor Coach Employees (AFSCME), Division 589, which
is mentioned in the union exhibits as source material for the Fact Finding Board to
examine. Another AFSCME Local, Local 380, submitted a paper titled, "An American Standard
of Living for The Transit Workers of America's Largest City."
The NYCTA's submissions to the Fact Finding Board present in the collection are two
documents, with exhibits, detailing the financial crises facing the transportation
system that arose in conjunction with the consolidation of the three independent transit
lines in New York and the cost of maintain such a large public transportation system,
as well as detailing comparable rates of pay from other transportation systems.
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference
archivist for access to these materials.
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and
Procedures for Document Use.
INFORMATION FOR USERS
New York City Transit Authority Fact Finding Panel Records #5114. Kheel Center for
Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Names:
New York City Transit Authority. Fact Finding Board.
Transport Workers Union of America.
New York City Transit Authority.
Civil Service Forum.
AFSCME.
Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America.
Local 589 (Boston, Massachusetts)
Subjects:
Transport workers -- New York (State) -- New York.
Transport workers -- Labor unions -- New York (State) -- New York.
Wages -- Transport workers -- New York (State) -- New York.
Collective bargaining agreements -- Local transit -- New York (State) -- New York.
Strikes and lockouts -- Transport workers -- New York (State) -- New York.
CONTAINER LIST
|
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
| Box 1 | Folder 1 |
Proposed Contracts Revisions for Year 1954, Transport Workers Union of America
|
1954 |
| Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Exhibits From the Transport Workers Union of America, CIO Submitted to the New York
City Transit Fact-Finding Board
|
1954 |
| Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Union Exhibits
|
1954 |
| Box 1 | Folder 4 |
Arbitration Award and Agreement Between Boston's Metropolitan Transit Authority and
Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway, and Motor Coach Employees, Division
589
|
1953 |
| Box 1 | Folder 5 |
Brief Submitted by the Civil Service Forum of New York City, In Support of Transit
Employees, to the N.Y.C. Transit Fact-Finding Panel on February 12, 1954
|
1954 |
| Box 1 | Folder 6 |
Supplemental Brief Submitted by the Civil Service Forum of New York, On Behalf of
Transit Employees, to the N.Y.C. Transit Fact-Finding Committee on March 6, 1954
|
1954 |
| Box 1 | Folder 7 |
Paper Submitted by the American Federation of Sate, County, and Municipal Employees,
Local 380, AFL, In Support of Transit Employees, to the N.Y.C. Transit Fact-Finding
Committee
|
1954 |
| Box 1 | Folder 8 |
New York City Transit Authority Presentation Before the New York City Transit Fact-Finding
Committee, February 17, 1954. Vol. 1: Financial Statements and Estimates
|
1954 |
| Box 1 | Folder 9 |
New York City Transit Authority Presentation Before the New York City Transit Fact-Finding
Committee, February 17, 1954. Vol. 2: Comparisons of rates of Pay and Working Conditions
|
1954 |