Introduction to “After the Storm: Postal Politics and Labor Relations Following the 1970 U.S. Postal Wildcat Strike, 1970–1981”

Excerpt

The 1970 United States postal wildcat strike, a landmark strike conducted by federal postal workers, resulted in the four major postal unions, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, and the National Rural Letter Carriers Association obtaining collective bargaining rights which included the right to bargain over wages, benefits and working conditions. The eight-day strike, which is the largest wildcat strike to have occurred in the United States, started in New York City although within a fortnight, it had expanded to other cities. Due to the illegal nature of this strike against the federal government, President Nixon utilized the US military personnel and the National Guard in an attempt to continue mail delivery and to end the strike. In addition to achieving collective bargaining rights, the walkout resulted in no strikers being terminated and affected the passage of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 and led to the formation of the United States Postal Service. …