Memphis Sanitation Strike (1968)

</image> <label>Performers</label> <label>Date</label> <label>Location</label> </infobox>The Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968 was a strike by predominantly-black sanitation workers in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, USA from February to April, 1968.

Background

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. Blacks 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, blacks were able to organize as part of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, a group which Crump called communist "n*gger 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 1968, these workers were earning between $1.60 and $1.90 an hour ($12.06-$14.32 in 2019 dollars). In addition to their sanitation work, often including unpaid overtime, many worked other jobs or appealed to welfare and public housing.^[9]

Union activities

Black sanitation workers had been attempting to organize since 1960, when T. O. Jones and O. Z. Evers began signing workers up with the Teamsters. However, many blacks were afraid to unionize due to fear of persecution. This fear proved justified in 1963, when 33 workers (including Jones) were all fired immediately after an organizing meeting they attended. Nevertheless, AFSCME Local 1733 was successfully formed in November 1964.^[9]

A strike in August 1966 was thwarted before it began when the city prepared strikebreakers and threatened to jail leaders.^[9]

Precursors

At the end of 1967, Henry Loeb was elected as mayor against the opposition of Memphis's black community. Loeb had served previously as the head of the sanitation division (as the elected Public Works Commissioner), and during his tenure oversaw grueling work conditions — including no city-issued uniforms, no restrooms, and no grievance procedure for the numerous occasions on which they were underpaid.^[10]

Upon taking office, Loeb increased regulations on the city's workers and appointed Charles Blackburn as the Public Works Commissioner. Loeb ordered Jones and the union to deal with Blackburn; Blackburn said he had no authority to change the city's policies.^[11]

On February 1, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, two sanitation workers,^[12] were crushed to death in a garbage compactor where they were taking shelter from the rain. Two other men had died this way in 1964, but the city refused to replace the defective equipment. On February 12, hundreds of workers came to a meeting at the Memphis Labor Temple, furious with their working conditions. The workers left the meeting with no organized plan, but a feeling that something had to be done—immediately.

Results

The strike ended on the 16th of April, with a settlement that included union recognition and wage increases, although additional strikes had to be threatened to force the City of Memphis to honour its agreements.