[A-List] Martin Luther King: 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike Was Powered Bythe Rank and File

["Charles Brown" <charlesb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Martin Luther King: 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike Was Powered By the
Rank
and File

Convoy Dispatch
January 21, 2008


".If you stand up straight, people can't ride your back. And that's
what we
did. We stood up straight."

That's how Taylor Rogers explains the success of the 1968 Memphis
sanitation
strike. Rogers was a principal organizer of the historic strike.

That strike ended in victory, but it was also the setting for the
tragic
assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.

The strike followed the death of two black workers, Echol Cole and
Robert
Walker, who were crushed by a faulty garbage truck compressor. The
needless
deaths became a rallying cry for recognition-of the union, of the
workers'
rights, and of their basic humanity as African-American men in the
still-segregated South. In response to the tragedy, the city's
sanitation
department gave each of the grieving families one month's pay and $500
for
funeral expenses. No one from the city government would attend the
funerals.

A Crucial Battle

A broad coalition of labor, religious and community groups responded
by
launching what became a crucial battle for civil and labor rights.
Mayor
Henry Loeb refused to negotiate with the workers and declared the
strike
illegal. An early march through downtown Memphis garnered attention for
the
workers' cause, but ended in violence as police sprayed protestors
with
mace. Mounting tensions led to the cancellation of talks between the
city
council and the workers. Further protests ended in chaos, mass arrests,
and
the police murder of Larry Payne, a 16-year-old boy who was marching
alongside the strikers.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was warned by many that the situation in
Memphis
was too volatile to resolve peacefully. Nevertheless he made the trip
to
Memphis to rally the city and speak on behalf of the
as-yet-unrecognized
Local 1733. On this trip Dr. King tragically met his assassin's bullet
on
the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.

King's murder resonated the world over, yet perhaps nowhere more loudly
than
in Memphis. A shaken city finally bowed to the union's demands and
began
collective bargaining. AFSCME (American Federation of State, County
and
Municipal Employees), who had worked alongside King and the sanitation
workers, was also instrumental in the settlement.

Rainy Day Pay

Local 1733's contract victory included higher wages, dues check off,
and the
updating of the antiquated sanitation equipment. Another practice that
had
infuriated black workers-sending them home on rainy days without pay
while
white supervisors sat around and collected a paycheck-was also ended.

We remember this as a victory not only for civil rights and labor, but
also
for the broader movement for rank and file democracy. This strike was
initiated, organized and carried out not by top union brass but by rank
and
file workers and their local leaders. In fact, during the strike's
initial
stages, AFSCME's leaders tried to dissuade the workers from seeking all
of
their demands.

>From the organizing efforts of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
in
early 20th century South Chicago to the courageous efforts of Caesar
Chavez
to organize migrant farmer workers, the labor movement has been at its
best
when uniting with the cause of civil rights. TDU salutes all past and
present rank and file movements for dignity, respect, and economic
justice,
here and abroad.

http://www.tdu.org/node/870