There is no question that collective action works. The question is how much solidarity, on the shop floor and from the general public, will it take to get results? In 1970, under a conservative administration facing a two-decade high of inflation, stagnant wages, continued civil unrest and an ongoing war in Vietnam, New York Branch 36 of the then US Postal Department defied union leadership and federal law, voting to walk off the job. Over the next eight days, more than 200,000 workers from coast to coast joined the effort, making it the largest outlaw strike in American history. That is the largest strike initiated by unionized workers without approval from union leadership. As a result, the Postal Act was passed, creating what we now know as the United States Postal Service (USPS).
The late Utah Phillips once said, “The long memory is the most radical idea in this country.” A wildcat strike forced the administration to create the USPS. Despite being one of the most radical strikes of our shared history, it is hardly part of our collective consciousness.
Today, it is still illegal for USPS workers to strike. Regardless of craft, whether part of the APWU, NALC, NPMHU, and NRLCA or not, all USPS employees must rely on collective bargaining, contract negotiations and arbitration instead of general strikes.
