10 June 1973: Gravediggers strike expands

On this day, 10 June 1973, a strike of gravediggers at three cemeteries in the New York metropolitan area was expanded to include 44 others. On June 21, the courts ordered strikers to return to work, which they ignored. The president of the striking Local 365 of the Cemetery Workers and Greens Attendants union was subsequently found guilty of contempt of court, jailed and fined. Eventually, after 27 days of strike action, the employers from Jewish, Roman Catholic and nonsectarian cemeteries, collectively agreed most of the workers' demands, including annual wage increases of $12 per week for the next three years, and an employer-funded pension scheme. During the dispute some bodies were buried by relatives and friends of the deceased, but a backlog of at least 1,400 unburied bodies remained.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8213/NY-gravediggers-strike-grows

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