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more important, as the days continued workers were beginning to meet privately at the picket lines, whatever workers were left, and people were taking vows. “If by Thursday this strike is not ended, we are going back in.” Some of the most militant people were saying, “We can't hold out.” I was getting calls from people I hadn't talked to in years, “What do we do? I can't hold on any more. I have no rent for two months, I have no food, and I don't know why I'm striking. I don't like to do this, but this woman is destroying everything.” At the same time, Van Arsdale, Cuomo, were concerned that if it continued without a settlement there would be a PATCO in New York. They persuaded the managements to hold off a little longer, “Don't do it,” because they could see what was going to happen, that the union would be destroyed. Turner was like walking off a plank here.

So it was under those conditions that the settlement, another rally was called at Madison Square Garden where Doris trumpeted the same settlement as this big victory, “And we didn't give back a thing. We got the five and five, it's the best contract anybody ever won.”

I thought the management's offer had been four and four.

With no give-backs.

It was four and four with no give-backs.

Right.

She held out for five and five and refused to acknowledge that there were millions of dollars in give-backs.

Wait. “And we gave no give-backs” she announced. The workers greeted it, and they voted overwhelmingly -- they would have accepted anything at that stage -- to go back to work. “And you will be back to work by Monday, and will be getting our checks with the increases, etcetera.”

We knew what was in the agreement. We had copies, that it was not a contract, it was a tentative agreement. So we decided that we ought to expose it. I was having difficulty. You know, I had to talk to people anonymously. You know, not for me. Once I had a big battle with Ron Sullivan during the strike, because I called to say -- I didn't know what to do. I tried to reach him to tell him that he's not reporting it right, anything there! So I decided to do something that I would rarely do. I called Peter Millones, the city editor. He wasn't in, and the deputy editor who was Anna Quindlen --

Life in the 1930s.