What Mike Quill is probably most remembered for, is his role in the 1966 transit strike in New York City. New York transit had always been a political football and in 1966 the issue of who was to pay for transit funding loomed large. An ailing Mike Quill, weakened by a series of heart attacks, would not be daunted by politicians' pronouncements and editorial page attacks. Called an "irresponsible demagogue" and "lawless hooligan" by the press, he only wanted what was fair for his members, even at the cost of a strike.
TWU had made its economic demands known in July 1965, but negotiations dragged on with no movement by the Transit Authority. At the top of TWU's list were wage increases to make up for the rise in the cost of living generated by the Vietnam War inflation.
In November 1965, John V. Lindsay was elected mayor. Unlike his predecessor, Robert Wagner, he did not take an active role in the negotiations. The TA pleaded poverty and without any leadership from the Mayor, they made no offers to the union. In fact, the Mayor-elect decided to take a vacation in Puerto Rico.
As the clock ran down, the union made strike preparations as it had so many times before. Procrastination was nothing new to the transit managers. Only this time, it appeared that the new mayor either did not believe Mike Quill would make good on the strike threat, or he thought he could beat the transit employees down into submission. Whatever the motive, he was wrong.
http://www.twu.org/about/history/presidents/quill.html
Sound familiar?
BTW, he actually was imprisoned, under an earlier-equally toothless, but more stringent-law.