Mike Quill

Michael J. Quill was one of the founders of the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), a union founded by subway workers in New York City that expanded to represent employees in other forms of transit, and the President of the TWU for most of the first thirty years of its existence. A close ally of the Communist Party USA for the first twelve years of his leadership of the union, he broke with it in 1948 and drove his former allies out of the union. At odds with the mayors of New York City for most of his career, he led a twelve day transit strike in 1966 that landed him in jail and won significant wage increases for his members. He died a few days after the end of the strike.

Early years in Ireland

Quill was born in Kilgarvan, County Kerry, Ireland from 1919 to 1921. He claimed to have been a dispatch rider for the Irish Republican Army while still a teenager, then a member of the IRA itself in the civil war that followed. By one account he robbed a bank to raise funds for the IRA. Quill worked as a carpenter's apprentice, then a woodcutter after the end of the civil war. He moved to the United States, following his brothers Patrick and John, in 1926.

Related Topics:
Kilgarvan - County Kerry - Ireland - 1919 - 1921 - Irish Republican Army - 1926

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Quill's account of his activities in Ireland were, however, subject to change over the years. Quill attributed his bad hip variously to a bullet lodged there after he was shot by the Black and Tans or to an accident in which he "fell off a mountainside"; he also admitted to others that the condition had dated from his childhood. Quill was also prone to exploiting his Irish background, particularly when in front of the heavily Irish-American membership of the TWU; as more than one observer noted his brogue got thicker the longer he was away from Ireland and particularly when he was on stage or in front of a microphone.

Related Topics:
Black and Tans - Brogue

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