This Day in History

March 18, 1970: Postal Workers Strike

Time Periods: People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974
Themes: Labor
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Post Strike NYC 1970

New York City postal workers picket the General Post Office.

The first mass work stoppage in the 195-year history of the Postal Service began on March 18, 1970, with a walkout of letter carriers in Brooklyn and Manhattan who were demanding better wages.

Ultimately, 210,000 (in 30 cities) of the nation’s 750,000 postal employees participated in the wildcat strike.

With mail service virtually paralyzed in New York, Detroit, and Philadelphia, President Nixon declared a state of national emergency and assigned military units to New York City post offices.

The stand-off ended one week later.

Read more about the strike at the American Postal Workers Union website and watch their 16-minute video below.

The Strike that Couldn’t Happen from APWU Communications Dept on Vimeo.

Below are resources from the Zinn Education Project for teaching about labor organizing.

Related Resources
Teaching Activities (Free)

The 1934 West Coast Longshore Strike

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond.
Students “become” several of the social groups who participated in the 1934 Longshore Workers Strike—some of whom had to answer the question, “Which side are you on?”

Teaching Activities (Free)

Paper Airplane Simulation

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond.
In this simulation, students make paper airplanes to learn about the origins and effects of “scientific management”—owners’ attempt to capture workers’ skills and knowledge, and then to exploit that knowledge to reorganize work and cut costs by deskilling workers.

Teaching Activities (Free)

Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union: Black and White Unite?

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond.
Role play on farm labor organizing in the 1930s shows how racism had to be challenged to create effective worker alliances.

Teaching Guides

The Power In Our Hands: A Curriculum on the History of Work and Workers in the United States

Teaching Guide. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 1988.
Role plays and writing activities project high school students into real-life situations to explore the history and contemporary reality of employment (and unemployment) in the U.S.