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September 5, 2004

The 1929 Strike, Part 2

There have been a number of job actions by labor against management in the history of public transit in New Orleans, but none was as serious or as historically important as the strike of 1929. The strike was the subject of our July 4, 2004, Feature Photo, but since this is Labor Day weekend, here’s another view of that time.

The beginning of any strike is usually a period highly charged with emotion, and the first week of July in 1929 was no exception. The photo above shows a group of NOPSI motormen and their sons posing for a photo as they parade around the neighborhood. The law firms working for NOPSI at the time hired a couple of photographers to document the actions of the strikers, which is why we have a number of interesting pictures showing strike-related damage.

Strikes are stories of human drama. Sometimes they’re true David-and-Goliath stories, other times they’re more about clashes of executive egos on both sides of the bargaining table. In either case, let’s take this Labor Day to acknowledge the hard work and effort over the decades of the men and women of Local 1560 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, as well as their counterparts in management for both NOPSI and RTA. They have all kept the buses and streetcars running as best as they can, and that’s something of which they can be very proud.

Posted by Edward J. Branley at September 5, 2004 7:42 PM

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