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Memphis sanitation strike
The Memphis sanitation strike began on February 12, 1968, in response to the deaths of sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker. The deaths served as a breaking point for more than 1,300 African American men from the Memphis Department of Public Works as they demanded higher wages, time and a half overtime, dues check-off, safety measures, and pay for the rainy days when they were told to go home.
The Memphis sanitation strike was led by T.O. Jones and had the support of Jerry Wurf, president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The AFSCME was chartered in 1964 by the state; the city of Memphis refused to recognize it.
Mayor Henry Loeb refused to recognize the strike and rejected the City Council vote, insisting that only he possessed the power to recognize the union. The Memphis sanitation strike prompted Martin Luther King Jr.'s presence, where he famously gave the "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech a day before his assassination.
The city of Memphis had a long history of segregation and unfair treatment for Black residents. The influential politician E. H. Crump had created a city police force, much of it culled from the Ku Klux Klan, that acted violently toward the Black population and maintained Jim Crow.[citation needed] Black people were excluded from unions and paid much less than Whites—conditions which persisted and sometimes worsened in the first half of the 20th century.
During the New Deal, Black people were able to organize as part of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, a group which Crump called communist "nigger unionism." However, organized Black labor was set back by anti-communist fear after World War II. Civil rights and unionism in Memphis were thus heavily stifled all through the 1950s.
The civil rights struggle was renewed in the 1960s, starting with desegregation sit-ins in the summer of 1960. The NAACP and SCLC were particularly active in Memphis during this period.
Memphis sanitation workers were mostly Black. They enjoyed few of the protections that other workers had; their pay was low and they could be fired (usually by White supervisors) without warning. In 1960 the average sanitation worker in Memphis earned $0.94–$1.14 an hour, however in 1968 sanitation laborers earned $1.60 an hour and garbage truck drivers earned $1.90 an hour ($14 and $17 respectively in 2024 dollars). In addition to their sanitation work, often including unpaid overtime, many worked other jobs or appealed to welfare and public housing.
In the early 1960s, Black sanitation workers united together to gain better wages and working conditions, fighting the racial discrimination in the Memphis Public Works Department. The first attempt to strike was in 1963, but it failed because there was inadequate organization. Many Black people were afraid to unionize due to the fear of persecution, which was justified in 1963, when 33 sanitation workers were fired immediately after attending an organizing meeting. In November 1964, Local 1733 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) was successfully formed by T.O. Jones. However, the city officials refused to recognize the union. In 1966, the union attempted another strike, but it was thwarted before it began when the city prepared strikebreakers and threatened to jail leaders. The failure of the strike was largely due to the lack of support of Memphis’ religious community or middle class.
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Memphis sanitation strike
The Memphis sanitation strike began on February 12, 1968, in response to the deaths of sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker. The deaths served as a breaking point for more than 1,300 African American men from the Memphis Department of Public Works as they demanded higher wages, time and a half overtime, dues check-off, safety measures, and pay for the rainy days when they were told to go home.
The Memphis sanitation strike was led by T.O. Jones and had the support of Jerry Wurf, president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The AFSCME was chartered in 1964 by the state; the city of Memphis refused to recognize it.
Mayor Henry Loeb refused to recognize the strike and rejected the City Council vote, insisting that only he possessed the power to recognize the union. The Memphis sanitation strike prompted Martin Luther King Jr.'s presence, where he famously gave the "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech a day before his assassination.
The city of Memphis had a long history of segregation and unfair treatment for Black residents. The influential politician E. H. Crump had created a city police force, much of it culled from the Ku Klux Klan, that acted violently toward the Black population and maintained Jim Crow.[citation needed] Black people were excluded from unions and paid much less than Whites—conditions which persisted and sometimes worsened in the first half of the 20th century.
During the New Deal, Black people were able to organize as part of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, a group which Crump called communist "nigger unionism." However, organized Black labor was set back by anti-communist fear after World War II. Civil rights and unionism in Memphis were thus heavily stifled all through the 1950s.
The civil rights struggle was renewed in the 1960s, starting with desegregation sit-ins in the summer of 1960. The NAACP and SCLC were particularly active in Memphis during this period.
Memphis sanitation workers were mostly Black. They enjoyed few of the protections that other workers had; their pay was low and they could be fired (usually by White supervisors) without warning. In 1960 the average sanitation worker in Memphis earned $0.94–$1.14 an hour, however in 1968 sanitation laborers earned $1.60 an hour and garbage truck drivers earned $1.90 an hour ($14 and $17 respectively in 2024 dollars). In addition to their sanitation work, often including unpaid overtime, many worked other jobs or appealed to welfare and public housing.
In the early 1960s, Black sanitation workers united together to gain better wages and working conditions, fighting the racial discrimination in the Memphis Public Works Department. The first attempt to strike was in 1963, but it failed because there was inadequate organization. Many Black people were afraid to unionize due to the fear of persecution, which was justified in 1963, when 33 sanitation workers were fired immediately after attending an organizing meeting. In November 1964, Local 1733 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) was successfully formed by T.O. Jones. However, the city officials refused to recognize the union. In 1966, the union attempted another strike, but it was thwarted before it began when the city prepared strikebreakers and threatened to jail leaders. The failure of the strike was largely due to the lack of support of Memphis’ religious community or middle class.
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