40 years since the 1970 wildcat postal strike

[Hannah Bell]

Posting this because last week my main postman, who walks his route & is near retirement, was followed on his route by some young woman with a stopwatch.




Forty years ago in March postal workers defied their unions, federal anti-strike laws, the military and the Nixon government to carry out the first national strike by federal employees against the United States government in history. At its height, the 1970 Postal Strike encompassed over 200,000 workers in over 30 cities...bringing the postal system to its knees and provoking a direct confrontation with the Nixon government...

The immediate trigger for the walkout, which began in New York City, was an announcement on March 12 that the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee had revealed the contents of a Nixon-supported bill which would transform the Post Office Department into an independent “Postal Authority,” while retaining...the ban on strikes imposed on federal employees...At the beginning of 1970 a craft employee of the Post Office with 21 years of service earned a top-of-scale average of $8,440, practically poverty level in numerous urban centers...

The government responded quickly and ruthlessly to the strike. Temporary restraining orders were issued by federal judges in Manhattan and Brooklyn and injunctions were served on Local 36 officials the same day the strike began. However, not only did strikers defy court orders, the strike spread across the US. By March 21 Nixon ended his silence and, calling the stoppage an “illegal strike” threatened strikers, saying “we have the means to deliver the mail and we will use those means.” This was widely interpreted to imply the use of the military against the strike...

Workers responded to Nixon’s threats by expanding the strike...On March 23, Nixon spoke on national television and radio to declare a national emergency. He ordered a military mobilization to “begin in New York City the restoration of essential mail services.” ...With the Vietnam War still raging, Nixon’s order sent 18,500 troops into New York City...




The militancy and solidarity of postal strikers resulted in major concessions...Yet the agreement worked out between the union heads and the federal government was a betrayal...the unions accepted the continuation of the strike ban on federal employees and binding arbitration under a so-called “neutral” arbitrator. Significantly, the unions dropped all opposition to “postal reform..." a significant step toward privatization that was begun soon after the strike with the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970.

Postal workers are currently working harder for less money than at any time since 1972, two years after the strike. According to one study, real earnings among postal workers in 2000 were actually 7.7 percent less than they were in 1972, and 13 percent less than they were in 1978, in real terms...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/apr2010/post-a24.shtml


My post office is a Work Progress Administration building. When I was a kid it was beautiful & well-maintained, with lovely craftsman paneling & woodwork. Now it's run-down & sectioned off in a cheap 80s remodel in complete disregard for the original architecture. Some of the PO vehicles look like they were repainted with house paint, and "contractors" drive some of the rural routes.

But my elderly postman is great, always a "hi, how are you" & never gives me anyone else's mail (unlike the younger carriers).

I'm afraid he's going to be laid off & it makes me sick.

[drm604]

1. My dad worked for the Post Office.

Him taking that job was the best thing that ever happened to our family. He's gone now but my 80 year old mother still has half his pension and a medical plan (which covers prescriptions and fills in the holes in medicare) because of that job.

It pains me to see the changes that are occurring.

[AngryOldDem]

7. Same here.

My dad's pension has allowed my 89-year-old mother to live a pretty comfortable life. She's not rich, by any stretch, but she's been well taken care of, especially medically.

My dad started at the post office as a clerk back in 1937, and made 37 cents an hour. He retired in 1972 as a supervisor, working in registered mail. He loved his johb. I don't ever recall hearing one complaint about it.

[Bunny]

2. Why was he being followed by a woman with a stopwatch?

[NNN0LHI]

3. His route was being audited to see if more stops could be added to it

My father was a mailman.

What people don't realize is that the mailman's job is more than just delivering mail. At least it used to be. My dad always checked on the welfare of the older and/or disabled people living on his route. He felt that was an essential part of his job because no one else was going to do it. He knew everyone on his route by first name. Even their pets.

Don

[Bunny]

4. Ok, thanks for the explanation.

I wasn't sure who the woman with the stopwatch represented.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. Taking metrics

[Hannah Bell]

6. k