Memphis Sanitation Strike
Encyclopedia
The Memphis Sanitation Strike began on February 11, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee
. Citing years of poor treatment, discrimination, dangerous working conditions, and the recent work-related deaths of Echol Cole
and Robert Walker, some 1300 black sanitation workers
walked off the job in protest. They sought to join the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1733.
Over the next 64 days, the strike grew into a major civil rights
struggle, attracting the attention of the national news media. AFSCME and the workers demanded union recognition, wage increases, and an end to discrimination. Local clergy members and community leaders also undertook an active campaign, including boycott
s and civil disobedience
. Civil Rights leaders Roy Wilkins
, James Lawson, and Bayard Rustin
all participated over the course of the strike. Prior to his death on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr.
also took an active role in mass meetings and street actions. The strike ended on April 12, 1968, with a settlement that included union recognition and wage increases, although additional strikes had to be threatened to force the City of Memphis to honor its agreements.
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. Citing years of poor treatment, discrimination, dangerous working conditions, and the recent work-related deaths of Echol Cole
Echol Cole
Echol Cole was one of the two sanitation workers killed in Memphis, Tennessee on Tuesday, February 1, 1968. Robert Walker was the other. The death of these men, together with many numerous racial and working-class injustices, contributed to Martin Luther King, Jr...
and Robert Walker, some 1300 black sanitation workers
Waste collector
A waste collector is a person employed by a public or private enterprise to collect and remove refuse and recyclables from residential, commercial, industrial or other collection site for further processing and disposal...
walked off the job in protest. They sought to join the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1733.
Over the next 64 days, the strike grew into a major civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
struggle, attracting the attention of the national news media. AFSCME and the workers demanded union recognition, wage increases, and an end to discrimination. Local clergy members and community leaders also undertook an active campaign, including boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
s and civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
. Civil Rights leaders Roy Wilkins
Roy Wilkins
Roy Wilkins was a prominent civil rights activist in the United States from the 1930s to the 1970s. Wilkins' most notable role was in his leadership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ....
, James Lawson, and Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...
all participated over the course of the strike. Prior to his death on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
also took an active role in mass meetings and street actions. The strike ended on April 12, 1968, with a settlement that included union recognition and wage increases, although additional strikes had to be threatened to force the City of Memphis to honor its agreements.
External links
- King's Unfinished Struggle, at Socialist Worker website
- Memphis Sanitation Worker's Strike, at Stanford's KingPapers website
- Labor Rights are Human Rights, from Michael Honey, a professor of History
- The Last Wish of MLK, from NY Times
- The American Prospect explains why MLK was in Memphis
- AFSCME remembers the historical strike
- AFSCME provides a time-line of the relevant events