February 12 – April 16, 1968 (2 months and 4 days)
Location
Memphis, Tennessee, Charles Mason Temple, Clayborn Temple
Caused by
Racial discrimination faced by black sanitation workers
Death of Echol Cole and Robert Walker from garbage compactor
Black sanitation workers exposed to dangerous working conditions
Resulted in
Larry Payne killed by police during march and disorder
Speech "I've Been to the Mountaintop" delivered by Martin Luther King Jr.
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968
Union AFSCME local 1733 recognized by City of Memphis
Increased wages for sanitation workers by City of Memphis
Parties
Sanitation workers
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Community on the Move for Equality (COME)
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
City of Memphis
Lead figures
Sanitation workers
T. O. Jones
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Martin Luther King Jr. †
Mayor of Memphis
Henry Loeb
v
t
e
Civil Rights Movement in Tennessee
City of Clinton
McSwain v. Co. Board of Ed. of Anderson Co., Tenn.
Clinton High School desegregation crisis
Clinton High School bombing
City of Memphis
Memphis sit-ins
Watson v. City of Memphis
Memphis sanitation strike
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
City of Nashville
Kelly v. Board of Education
Hattie Cotton Elementary School bombing
Nashville sit-ins
Nashville Student Movement
Z. Alexander Looby residence bombing
Other localities
Tent City
Chattanooga sit-ins
Knoxville sit-ins
v
t
e
Sanitation strikes
Memphis 1968
St. Petersburg 1968
Charleston 1969
Atlanta 1977
Atlanta 2018
The Memphis sanitation strike began on February 12, 1968, in response to the deaths of sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker.[1][2] 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.[2]
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).[3][4][2] 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.[1][4][5] 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.
^ ab"Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike", King Encyclopedia, Stanford University, June 2, 2017, archived from the original on November 28, 2019
^ abcEstes, Steve (2000). ""I am a Man!": Race, Masculinity, and the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike". Labor History. 41 (2): 153–170. doi:10.1080/00236560050009914. PMID 18041164. S2CID 32680284.
^"1968 Memphis Sanitation Strikers Inducted Into Labor Hall Of Fame". Dclabor.org. May 2, 2011. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
^ abCite error: The named reference GNAD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Timeline of Events Surrounding the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike · HERB: Resources for Teachers". herb.ashp.cuny.edu. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
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