Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968

Today in Southern labor history, we remember the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers’ strike. Most remember this strike for its association with the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. But, few know the whole story. On February 1, 1968, two Memphis garbage collectors, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, were crushed to death by a malfunctioning truck. Frustrated by the city’s lack of response, low wages, and dangerous working conditions, 1,300 Black men from the Memphis Department of Public Works went on strike. In the following days, the strike gained public support from community and faith leaders. With the efforts of people like Martin Luther King Jr and others from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the strike gained massive support culminating in a march of thousands. In response, then Memphis mayor Henry Loeb, called in 4,000 national guardsmen to repress the movement. As striking workers carried signs through the streets reading “I Am a Man,” police and National Guardsmen filled up the city’s jails. Just after he addressed the strikers, on April 4th, Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in his hotel in Memphis. King's murder created tension throughout the city. President Lyndon Johnson sent in a special negotiator in the tension of the moment, and on April 16th, the City of Memphis agreed to the workers' demands. In the end, it’s solidarity that won the Memphis Sanitation workers’ strike. When working people of all races, genders, and identities stick together and organize public support, they are unstoppable!