Memphis Sanitation Strike

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Part of the Civil Rights Movement
Date February 12 – April 16, 1968
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Location
Memphis, Tennessee, Charles Mason Temple
Caused by
Resulted in
Parties to the civil conflict
  • City of Memphis
Lead figures
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Sanitation workers

SCLC members

City of Memphis
Units involved
Number
Casualties and losses
Casualties

The Memphis Sanitation Strike began on February 12, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. Citing years of poor treatment, discrimination, dangerous working conditions, and the horrifying recent deaths of Echol Cole and Robert Walker, some 1300 black sanitation workers walked off the job in protest. They also sought to join the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1733.[1][2]

Echol Cole and Robert Walker had been crushed in a mechanical malfunction on February 1; city rules forbade black employees to seek shelter from rain anywhere but in the back of their compressor trucks, with the garbage.

Memphis's mayor, Henry Loeb, declared the strike illegal and refused to meet with local black leaders. (He did meet with AFSCME's national officers.)[2]

Heavily redacted files released in 2012 suggest that FBI monitored the strike and increased its operations in Memphis during 1968.[3]

Course of the strike

On Monday, February 12, the vast majority of the city's sanitation and sewage workers did not show up for work. Some of those who did show up walked off when they found out about the apparent strike. Mayor Loeb, infuriated, refused to meet with the strikers.[4]

The workers marched from their union hall to a meeting at the City Council chamber; there, they were met with 40–50 police officers. Loeb led the workers to a nearby auditorium, where he asked them to return to work. They laughed and booed him, then applauded union leaders who spoke. At one point, Loeb grabbed the microphone from AFSCME International organizer Bill Lucy and shouted "Go back to work!", storming out of the meeting soon after.[4] The workers declined.

By February 15, piles of trash (10,000 tons worth) were noticeable, and Loeb began to hire strikebreakers. These individuals were white and traveled with police escorts. They were not well received by the strikers, and the strikers assaulted the strikebreakers in some cases.[5][6]

Media coverage

The local news media were generally favorable to Loeb, portraying union leaders (and later Martin Luther King, Jr.) as meddling outsiders. The Commercial Appeal wrote editorials (and published cartoons) praising the mayor for his toughness.[7] Newspapers and television stations generally portrayed the mayor as calm and reasonable, and the protesters and organizers as unruly and disorganized.[5]

Connection to civil rights movement

Strikers carried I Am A Man! posters.

From the beginning, strikers refused to erase the racial dimension of the issues at hand. Various speakers from the NAACP addressed the strikers in the union hall.[4] Many of these leaders, including Rev. Samuel Kyles, opposed the alliance with white union leaders who seemed to be riding the strikers' coattails.[5]

Support for the strike in Memphis was divided heavily along racial lines. White scabs increased the workers' resentment. The wider black community became directly involved on Saturday, February 17, with a widely attended meeting at Charles Mason Temple. Bishop J.O. Patterson pledged to help the strikers with food; others present followed his example. On Sunday, February 18, supporters of the strike visited black churches around the city, successfully garnering more support.[5]

On a February 23 demonstration, police changed their demands midway through the event, leading to conflict with the protesters. On February 24, black leaders came together to form Community on the Move for Equality (COME).

Due to the efforts of COME, the strike grew into a major civil rights struggle, attracting the attention of the NAACP, the national news media, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Local clergy members and community leaders also undertook an active campaign, including boycotts and civil disobedience. Civil Rights leaders Roy Wilkins, James Lawson, and Bayard Rustin all participated over the course of the strike.

The strike thus came to represent the broader struggle for equality within Memphis, whose many black residents lived disproportionately in poverty.[8] I Am A Man! emerged as a unifying civil rights theme.[9]

Involvement of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Prior to his death on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. also took an active role in mass meetings and street actions. He first visited the Memphis strike on March 18, speaking to an audience of thousands at Mason Temple.[6]

A demonstration on March 28 (with King in attendance) turned violent when some protesters started breaking windows. Some held signs reading "LOEB EAT SHIT". Police responded with batons and tear gas, killing Larry Payne,[10] a sixteen-year-old boy, with a shotgun.[6]

Roles of the union

Membership in Local 1733 increased substantially during the course of the strike, more than doubling in the first few days.[4] Its relationship with other unions was complex.

National leadership

The AFSCME leadership in Washington was initially upset to learn of the strike, which they thought would not succeed. P.J. Ciampa, a field organizer for the AFL–CIO, reportedly reacted to news of the strike saying, "Good God Almighty, I need a strike in Memphis like I need another hole in the head!" However, both AFSCME and the AFL–CIO sent representatives to Memphis; these organizers came to support the strike upon recognizing the determination of the workers.[4]

Jones, Lucy, Ciampa, and other union leaders, asked the striking workers to focus on labor solidarity and downplay racism. The workers refused.[4]

Local unions

During the strike, Local 1733 received direct support from URW Local 186. Local 186 had the largest black membership in Memphis, and allowed the strikers to use their union hall for meetings.[4]

Most white union leaders in Memphis feared the blackness of the strikers, and expressed concern about race riots.

Tommy Powell, president of the Memphis Labor Council, was one of few local white advocates.[5]

End of the strike

King's assassination (April 4, 1968) intensified the strike. Mayor Loeb and others feared rioting, which had already begun in Washington, D.C. Federal officials, including Attorney General Ramsey Clark, urged Loeb to make concessions to the strikers in order to avoid violence. Loeb refused.[11]

On April 8, a completely silent march with the SCLC and Coretta Scott King attracted 42,000 participants.[2][8]

The strike ended on April 16, 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. The period was a turning point for black activism and union activity in Memphis.[8]

See also

References

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  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Memphis sanitation workers strike in 1968 with "I Am A Man" posters, which emerged as a unifying civil rights theme.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Bibliography

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External links

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