Day 8 of Left Open, Club Leftist Tennis’ daily leftist coverage of the 2022 US Open.
Though most tennis fans won’t remember it, August 28, 1989 was an historic day for the US Open. Spry 18-year old Pete Sampras notched his first tournament win, dispatching Agustin Moreno of Mexico in a tidy 4 sets, and a few days later he would take out defending champion and fifth seed Mats Wilander of Sweden, officially marking his arrival into the sport’s upper echelon.
Sampras’ first round win found scant mention in local media; the Daily News buried it on page 59 of the sports section, a single line amongst the hundreds of the days’ other sporting results. Another important event merited brief mention that day, on page 3 of the Daily News’ business section—a strike.
“Thousands of striking NYNEX Corp. workers held a massive protest rally near the U.S. Open Tennis tennis tournament, which NYNEX is co-sponsoring,” the bullet point read.
As of the date of Sampras’ match, 40,000 members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and 20,000 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) had been striking against the regional telecom giant for roughly three weeks, fighting against proposed cuts to healthcare benefits.
Not only was NYNEX a tournament co-sponsor, but its workers had installed the communications equipment used on site. When CBS technicians refused to cross the picket line to install on court cameras, threatening the opening of the slam, the USTA pressured NYNEX to remove all management from the location. NYNEX and the unions resumed bargaining talks the following day, which CWA as well as the USTA credited to the union’s pressure, though a NYNEX spokesman pitifully attributed it to “simply good faith for no particular reason.”
Talks fell apart several days later, and the strike would not be settled for 17 weeks—in a resounding victory for the union. Though victorious in negotiation, the union suffered greatly, as two picketing strikers were killed, including CWA Local 1103 member Jerry Horgan, who was struck by a scab driving a car into a NYNEX facility. The scab was never convicted.
It’s true that the strikers’ connection to the US Open was brief, and in no way the focal point of their organizing strategy. However the picket at the Open deserves to be celebrated for its place in a successful organizing strategy, and for transforming the event, however briefly. Through mass mobilization, the USTA, hardly political by any means, was forced to side with organized labor over a company enriching to the tune of hundreds of thousands. Though that round of negotiations proved fruitless, pushing NYNEX back to the table flexed the power that would ultimately win the strike. And for a day, an event too often focused on selling luxury to rich fans was forced to foreground those who actually make all of the beautiful tennis possible.
Though the Open often feels like a setting for modern myths—like Sampras’ magical run to the fourth round in ‘89, or his returning a year later to be crowned champion—this legendary quality cannot obscure what the Open truly is.
The Open exists only because of the working class—not only the nearly 2000 seasonal workers who staff the event, but the construction workers, electricians, plumbers and other laborers who created the United States Tennis Center in the first place, and even some players who could reasonably be considered precarious workers themselves.
This Labor Day, as you enjoy Rafa seeking to continue his reign vs the feisty Tiafoe, and as Collins fights to join Coco in the quarters, remember the NYNEX strike in ‘89. Imagine the Unisphere ensconced in a sea of red like it was on that day, remember those who gave their lives for labor, and recommit yourself to organized struggle against capital. Solidarity forever!