The story of Michael J Quill, the TWU in New York, and his link with Kerry athletics
Con Dennehy tells the story of Kilgarvan native Michael J Quill, who founded the Transport Workers Union in New York city and lends his name to one of the most coveted cups that is competed for in Kerry athletics
THE iconic and powerful American Civil Rights Movement leader from 1955 to his assassination in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr, paid a glowing tribute to Kilgarvan native Michael J. Quill following his untimely death in 1966 saying: “He spent his life ripping the chains of bondage off his fellow man. This is a man the ages will remember.”
Today Michael J. Quill is remembered fondly in Kerry sporting circles. One of the most sought after and highly prestigious sporting trophies, the Quill Cup, which is presented annually to the Best Club at the Kerry AAI Track and Field Athletics Championships, commemorates his name.
In 1954, a magnificent silver cup was presented by Michael J. Quill, International President of the Transport Workers Union of America, to the Kerry NACA County Athletics Board. The perpetual cup was first presented at the Kerry Athletic and Cycling Championships, run off in Kilgarvan on June 27, 1954, to the club that secured most points in the various championship events.
John Mitchells Athletic Club from Tralee was the inaugural winner, with the club captain MJ Lynch accepting the cup from Mrs. Mary O’Sullivan, a sister of Michael J. Quill. At that time the cup was named ‘Buan Corn Cuimneachain Seamus Ui Congaile’ in memory of the great Irish Labour leader and patriot James Connolly, but following the death of Michael Quill in 1966 it was renamed the Quill Cup.
For the past 65 years the cup has been carefully and respectfully maintained by various Kerry athletic clubs and club captains. Names inscribed on the cup include some of the top athletes in Kerry over six decades. Many club captains have accepted the cup on multiple occasions. However, the record is reserved for Brosna native Patsy O’Connor who competes for Tralee Harriers. He was presented with the cup in 1993, 2004, 2005, 2012 and again in 2018, while his son Alan was the winning club captain in 2008. Tralee super sprinter Pat Canty was the winning club captain in 1979, 1985 and 1986. Others to captain their club to Kerry championship victory on two or more occasions are Donal Crowley (St. Johns) 1972 and 1975, Stephen Griffin (St. Johns) 1977 and 1978 and Michael O’Brien (St. Johns) 1994, 1995 and 1996.
The late and much loved The Kerryman newspaper employee Christy Murray from Tralee was captain in 1961 with his son Christo leading St. Johns to glory in 1987.
So who was Michael Quill? Quill was always a man ready to fight for his fellow man, to ensure they had basic human rights and a better quality of life. This ethos was instilled in him as a young boy around the foothills of Kilgarvan.
Quill was born in 1905. In his early teens he became a message carrier and a scout for the No.2 Kerry Brigade of the IRA during the War of Independence. Later he was involved in the Civil War as an IRA volunteer. Following the end of the Civil War, and with no jobs available in the greater Kenmare region, he emigrated to America in 1926. Following a series of early jobs including heavy construction work on the New York subway, he took a job as a ticket agent for the Interboro Rapid Transit Company, the biggest subway operation in America.
This job transformed his life and his views on worker fairness. In the job, Quill was subject to terrible and inhumane working conditions. These included four hours without pay, 84 hours working per week, 12 hours a night, seven nights a week for a mere 33 cent per hour.
Quill knew he had to change his lifestyle if he was to survive the toughness of New York. He was inspired by the writings and actions of James Connolly and the difficult task he faced in unionising workers in Dublin.
Quill, along with Thomas O’Shea from Cork, became the main founders of the Transport Workers Union in April 1934. O’She a was elected as the union’s first president. He was replaced by Quill, who worked full-time as the Union president for almost 30 years. He built up the union from 400 members to 14,000 Interboro Rapid Transit Company employees.
By 1935, Quill began to agitate openly for the union. He set up his soapbox at lunch hour at the powerhouses or in the shops. It was the famous shopgate meetings which helped make him a popular figure on the transit property. He also spoke on radio in 1936 to bring the union’s message across to the widest audience.
The first strike Quill called was in January1937. It centred around two men who were fired by Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation for union activity. The sit-down strike won the support of other company employees and helped to boost the TWU’s membership to 45,000, a considerable number at the time.
Quill worked hard in the union and gained respect all over America as he fought for better pay and working conditions for his members.
In 1940, Quill was called before a Congressional hearing of the House Committee of un-American Activities about communist involvement in the TWU.
In 1961, 25 TWU airline workers in Tennessee protested against the union’s support for the Civil Rights desegregation campaign, Quill’s response was to invite the Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King to address a TWU convention.
The conditions of union members had changed during Quill’s time as TWU president. Throughout his career he only initiated one strike.
What Quill is probably most remembered for is his role in the 1966 transit strike in New York City.
New York transit had always been a political football. In 1966 the issue of who was to pay for transit funding was a major issue. An ailing Mike Quill, weakened by a series of heart attacks, would not be daunted by politicians’ and editorial page attacks. Called an “irresponsible demagogue” and “lawless hooligan” by the press, he only wanted what was fair for his members, even at the cost of a strike.
TWU had made its economic demands known in July 1965, but negotiations dragged on with no movement by the Transit Authority. At the top of TWU’s list were wage increases to make up for the rise in the cost of living resulting from the Vietnam War inflation.
In November 1965, John V. Lindsay was elected Mayor of New York. Unlike his predecessor, Robert Wagner, he did not take an active role in the negotiations. The Transport Authority pleaded poverty and without any leadership from the Mayor, they made no offers to the union. In fact, the Mayor-elect decided to take a holiday in Puerto Rico.
As the clock ran down, the union made strike preparations.
Procrastination was nothing new to the transit managers. Only this time it appeared that the new mayor either did not believe Michael Quill would make good on the strike threat, or he thought he could beat the transit employees down into submission. Whatever the motive, he was wrong.
The new mayor showed up on New Year’s Eve and the Transit Authority finally put a package on the table. It was too little and it came too late. On the morning of January 1, 1966, TWU members finished their last runs and by 8:02am, the last train had rolled into the terminal. No buses or subways would run for 10 days.
On that first day, an injunction was issued to halt the strike. In one of his press appearances, Michael Quill tore up the injunction in front of the television cameras. During the strike, 64 camera crews from all over the world covered the event and its leader, Quill.
Six TWU leaders and three Amalgamated Transit Union leaders were to be arrested on January 4.
Mike Quill responded saying, “The courts may have their finest hours, but they’ll not break us. We will not settle for one penny less than our objectives.”
The next morning, Mike Quill met the press, mediators and TWU negotiators. Clearly, the strike was taking its toll on the TWU leader but brazenly he announced, “The judge can drop dead in his black robes. I don’t care if I rot in jail. I will not call off the strike.”
Taken to jail, Quill’s condition worsened and he was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in New York for treatment. On January 10, New York City Hall witnessed a massive labor demonstration of 15,000 pickets. Joining the TWU strikers were members from other TWU locals and other New York trade unions. On January 13, the union was recommending settlement. Quill listened to the announcement of the settlement from his room in the hospital.
The package was worth over $60 million and included raises which would increase wages from $3.18 to $4.14 an hour. Included was another paid holiday, increased pension benefits and other gains.
Michael Quill had been transferred to Mt. Sinai Medical Hospital for further care and was finally released three weeks after his jailing. He addressed his last press conference that day. However, he died just days later on January 28, 1966 leaving behind a legacy that lasts to this day.
The TWU EXPRESS reported that month that Michael Quill “did not hesitate or equivocate. He died as he lived, fighting the good fight for TWU and its members.”
He is remembered in New York with the Michael J. Quill Bus Depot museum dedicated to his memory, and the Michael J. Quill Scholarship programme which commenced in 1969.
Today in New York he is branded as America’s greatest Irish born hero.
In Kerry he is remembered annually with the presentation of the Quill Cup.