Memphis Sanitation Strike

                                                              

50 Years after Their Historic Strike, Memphis Sanitation Workers Are Still Fighting. Mother Jones,  Eli Day, March 21, 2018. 

     The Memphis Sanitation Strike occurred during the Civil Rights Movement. It was a strike by black Americans in Memphis, Tennessee to fight against discrimination through neglect and abuse of black workers. They were being oppressed by the city of Memphis. The black workers were being treated unfairly, and were striking for recognition of their union, for the rights of economic equality and equal treatment of the black workers who were being oppressed.    

     On February 1, 1968 sanitation workers named, Echol Cole and Robert Walker were crushed by a trash truck they were riding in while trying to stay dry during a rain storm. They were in the back where the garbage is thrown, seeking shelter, when it accidentally released the mechanism of the truck that ultimately lead to their death. Coincidentally, on that same day another incident occurred, when twenty-two sewer workers were sent home without pay because it was raining, while the white supervisors were still kept on the job and able to keep their pay. The labor discrimination against African Americans had reached a breaking point.

      Historically, the lives of the black workers had always been a struggle. The workers would only make $1.80 an hour which is very low. Since the wages were so minute a majority of the workers met the standards for welfare, and many had to count on food stamps to provide for their families. Some black workers even had to work a second job in order to make ends meet. On a daily basis the workers would lift garbage that was very unsafe and be dripping all over them. In addition, their superiors would treat them unjustly just like they were nothing. When the weather was hazardous, they were sent home with no pay while the whites would receive all the money on a normal day. The workers also had no benefits which included no pension or a vacation. Below is a sample pay stub from a black worker in January 1968 right before the strike showing the unfair wages.

Image of PAY Stub , from Sanitation Worker. Omeka RSS, January 31, 1968.

     On February 12 more than 1,300 of the sanitation workers would strike for better safety on the job, more money, and union recognition. The union originally tried to go out on a strike in 1966, but it failed due to the fact that the workers could not gather the support of people in Memphis. However, this environment the workers were accustomed to, took a turn for the worse when a new mayor was elected. Henry Loeb, the new mayor, declined an offer to dispose of trucks that were in disrepair, and to give the worker’s pay for overtime. Additionally, the fight had become more than labor discrimination, it had also become about the respect and dignity of the black population of Memphis.  One of the eyewitnesses to the strike, Bill Lucy, talked about the strike in the   I Am A Man Exhibit Symposium. 

Memphis Sanitation City Hires Replacement Workers, NBC News Photo Blog, Richard Copley, March 28, 1968.    

  

    Then on February 22, the strike almost ended when a sit in of sanitation workers happened and the City Council voted to recognize the union and increased wages. However, the mayor would not accept the vote and threatened to replace the strikers. After this occurred, a riot took place towards demonstrators who filled the streets and the police took them down with mace and tear gas.  A couple days after this incident, ministers came to the decision to use tactics that would be civil instead of with malicious intent. Roy Wilkins and Bayard Rustin, civil rights leaders arrived in Memphis to help the sanitation workers.

     The longer the strike lasted, more black people rallied around the workers in the community in Memphis.  Martin Luther King was already involved with the workers and the  Poor People’s Campaign who were fighting for economic opportunity and equality. He made Memphis part of this campaign and stood up for dignity for all jobs, even sanitation workers, in his effort to better the lives and civil rights of the black workers in Memphis. Martin Luther King was involved with a city-wide boycott to help the workers in their strike. King’s effort was aided by Reverend James Lawson who was a pastor in Memphis, and a guide for the workers.  Martin Luther King was a key figure in this strike. King led the sanitation workers on the demonstration, but it turned violent and the march stopped. He came back to Memphis for a peaceful march and delivered his last speech,  I’ve Been to the Mountaintop in Memphis, on April 3, 1968, urging strikers to continue until the end and not give up. This is the last time that Martin Luther King would be involved with a civil rights protest. King would be assassinated the next day.

    Despite the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., the mayor still refused to meet the demands of the strikers. After pressure from the governor of Tennessee and President Johnson, on April 16, 1968 negotiators finally struck a deal allowing the City Council to recognize the union and ensuring that there would be better wages for the workers. The deal brought the strike to an end but later the union had to threaten to strike again to guarantee that the city would follow through with what it said. The strike was an important milestone to labor rights and civil rights of the oppressed black workers of Memphis, Tennessee and shed light on how the government discriminated and unfairly treated African Americans. As in accordance with the Gaudium et Spes, they were striking against the oppression of the public authority, the city of Memphis, its mayor, and defending their rights against that abuse.