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John Lawe, Fourth President, 1985-1989
JOHN E. LAWE, the son of an Irish farmer, who rose from bus cleaner to TWU's highest office, and who led TWU through the tumultuous 11-day New York City transit strike of 1980, was TWU's 4th International President.
John Lawe's rise to prominence in TWU is in many ways a great story of America itself. John Edward Lawe was born in the family farmhouse on Feb. 26, 1919 in Kilglass, Strokestown in County Roscommon, Ireland with a midwife and local doctor in attendance. He was the third of 10 children, five boys and five girls, born to Luke and Kate Lawe. John's early days were very typical of boys from the quiet, rural counties of Ireland. He attended school and helped with chores around the family's 60-acre farm, which produced cattle and crops.
As a young man, John went to work as a "ganger" for the County Council, the local government, on road repair. During 1939 to 1945 when World War II disrupted British coal imports and Ireland depended ever more heavily on domestic fuel supplies, John went to work in Kilbarry's damp peat bog cutting turf with a hand held slane for Bord na Mona, the Irish state fuel company.
For most of his time in the bogs, John was a working supervisor. John Joe Hoey, a long time friend who worked in the bogs with him, said, "John was very popular with the men under him for his fairness and hard work, never asking others to do what he was unwilling to do himself." John also served in Ireland's Local Defense Force, roughly equivalent to the National Guard in America, during the War years.
John's sister, Kathleen, who still resides in Ireland, remembers him in especially loving terms. "John was a very good student in school," said Kathleen. "He never got into mischief, but he did love to play pranks on the other lads. John's schoolmaster, Mr. Michael Conboy always said that John and three other lads from John's class, all incidentally named John, were the best students he ever had."
Kathleen said that the four boys always remained good friends. One of them, incidentally, Father John McHugh, concelebrated John Lawe's funeral Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral with His Eminence John Cardinal O'Connor. The other two, John Reilly became a butcher in County Sligo, Ireland, and John Deehan, went to work for Harrods of London. Kathleen also remembers that John's pay envelope containing about six pounds a week was handed over each week unopened to his mother. "He never touched the money," said Kathleen. "He always told mom to keep what she needed and give him what was left over."
As a young man, John Lawe had a reputation for considerable personal charm. He and his friends rode bicycles to the dances in Roscommon, Leitrim and Longford that were a high point of social life for the young people in this part of western Ireland. "John was very popular," said Kathleen. "He talked to everyone. He could never see bad in anyone, only good."
Emigrates to America
In 1949, John Lawe decided to follow many of his friends and family to the United States. He took a ship from Southampton, England with a cousin, Tommy Cawley. After arriving on America's shores, he pounded the pavement looking for work for three weeks. He eventually got a job as an elevator operator. But in the following year, he quit that job and found work, like so many thousands of young Irish immigrants of his and an earlier generation, in New York City Transit.
His first job in transit was as a bus cleaner for the old Fifth Ave. Coach Co. He soon became active in union affairs as a maintenance shop steward at the 132nd St. garage. His first taste of a strike came in 1953 when he served as picket captain during TWU's 29-day work stoppage against the private bus lines in Manhattan. He switched from maintenance to driving buses in 1953 and continued his quick rise up the union ladder. He was elected Transportation Section Chairman in 1955 and later served as Chairman for all Fifth Ave. sections.
John became Division 1 Recording Secretary with the creation of the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Operating Authority (MABSTOA) out of the former private lines in 1962 and was elected Division Chairman in 1964. Two years later, he served on the negotiating committee during perhaps TWU's most famous strike, the 1966 Citywide bus and subway strike, in which founding president Mike Quill and several other top TWU leaders were jailed by New York's new Mayor John Lindsay. In 1968, he was elevated to MABSTOA Division 1 Vice President, where among his many duties, he handled negotiations for the Queens and Westchester private bus lines.
Finally, in 1977 John Lawe became President of Local 100, succeeding Ellis Van Riper. He held that position until 1985 when he stepped up to replace the late William G. Lindner, TWU's 3rd International President, in May 1985. Lawe had served as TWU's Int'l Executive Vice President from 1979 to 1985.
Served Labor Statewide
During his years as Local 100 President, he was extremely active in city and statewide union activities. He served as 2nd Vice President of the New York City Central Labor Council and Vice President of the State AFL-CIO. John also played a key role in establishing the statewide Public Employee Conference and served as its Treasurer until 1985. The public employee unions utilized PEC as a very effective lobbying tool for workers in Albany.
John Lawe was also very active in electoral politics. He was the first labor leader to give Mario Cuomo a major political endorsement when Cuomo first ran for Mayor against Ed Koch, and then again when he ran against Koch in the Democratic primary for Governor. The highlight of John Lawe's presidency with Local 100 was of course the 1980 New York City transit strike. However, under his leadership Local 100 became more active in national politics, getting involved in key Congressional and Senatorial races. Lawe also engineered a government grant to begin the Local's Upgrade Training Program, which has since expanded at a fast rate and served as a model to other unions.
In 1978, he was elected delegate to the Democratic Party National Conference in Memphis, Tenn. by popular vote of his Congressional District in the Riverdale area. In 1984, he was elected a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco.
Fights for United Ireland
In addition to his union activities, John Lawe was always deeply involved in Irish affairs. For his work in behalf of the Catholic minority in Northern Ireland, Mr. Lawe was honored by the Irish Northern Aid Society, The Grand Council of United Emerald Societies, the Irish National Caucus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He achieved the highest honor that can be bestowed on an Irish American when he was elected Grand Marshal of the 1987 St. Patrick's Day Parade.
In addition to these honors, he was cited as "Man of the Year" by the Deborah Hospital Foundation. And in 1986, Mayor Ed Koch presented him with the Liberty Medal as one of New York City's outstanding immigrants. The medal was presented as part of the week-long festivities surrounding the Centennial celebration of the Statue of Liberty in July 1986.
John also participated aggressively in community affairs. He served as director of the "Bronx 2000," an economic development and neighborhood preservation program; on the Advisory Board of the Center for Labor and Industrial Relations of the New York Institute of Technology; and in May 1985 was given an outstanding Community Achievement Award by the Bronx Chamber of Commerce. He also served as Director of the Bronx Overall Economic Development Organization Committee.
He worked diligently as the General Labor Chairman of the Arthritis Foundation of the New York Region. On top of all these activities he managed to complete a two-year labor studies program at Cornell University.
John E. Lawe died peacefully at home with his family by his bedside on Jan. 5, 1989. He succumbed after an arduous battle against cancer. But he had remained active in the administration of the union's affairs until the last few weeks of his life when the cancer spread depleting his strength. After seeing the several thousand people who attended his funeral at New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral, Kathleen, his sister, remarked, "John died as he lived. Everyone was his friend."
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