The workers had closed down garbage collection July 1 when Mayor Abraham Beame tried to fire 2,934 of them. The walkout was officially opposed by John DeLury, president of the Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association, who said he could not control the ranks.

To end the strike Beame agreed to temporarily rehire all the sanitation workers while he continued to search for federal and state aid. As a direct result of the strike, the state legislature agreed to give the city $330 million in new taxing authority. But by July 8 only 750 sanitation jobs had been "permanently" restored, and Beame was making no promises that any more would be forthcoming.

In an ominous sign, the city refused to suspend legal action against the union or individual strikers. They may still be victimized under New York's infamous Taylor Law, which forbids strikes by public employees under penalty of jail terms and individual fines of two days' pay for every day on strike.  
 
July 17, 1950
According to the Constitution, Congress alone has the right to declare war. But Truman, taking advantage of the flimsy subterfuge that he has not "declared" war, has put the United States into a war that is as real and as bloody as if it had formally been "declared."

Instead of resisting these usurpations of power, Congress has acted like a door mat. Even though it was in session and could be called together for action by the President in a few hours, it has not challenged his demonstrative assumption of war-making powers.

A few Republicans questioned the legality of Truman's moves, but only for the record.

The issue, however, goes far beyond the question of legality, and the relations between the White House and Capitol Hill. If Truman is permitted to fling the country into a "little" war on his own initiative and decree, then what is going to stop him from doing the same in the case of a full-scale world war?

Congress must be condemned not only for its cowardice on the Korean crisis but also for permitting the establishment of a precedent that may later be used on a much broader and much more fateful occasion.