Biography
Tess Ewing was a Boston school-bus driver and member of the United Steelworkers (USWA) who was jailed for contempt during the union's strike in the spring of 1978. When the drivers struck in April 1978, authorities enforced a no-strike injunction issued the preceding December; Ewing was among those jailed for defying it, serving twelve days at the Framingham Women's Correctional Institution. She saw the jailings as part of an effort, as she put it, "to squeeze out a contract" from the union.
The contemporary account dates the Boston school-bus strike to April 10, 1978 and its first contract to April 22. Twelve union leaders, five women and seven men, were jailed; Ewing individually reported twelve days actually served at Framingham. This corrects the legacy biography’s 1977 year and distinguishes the prior December injunction from the April strike. The structured case already correctly records April 1978 and twelve days; exact jail admission and discharge days remain unverified. The Militant, May 19, 1978, PDF page 13. Source: https://www.themilitant.com/1978/4219/MIL4219.pdf#page=13
