1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to steph you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:17,920 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying. We are 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 1: coming up on the fiftieth anniversary of the Memphis Sanitation 5 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:26,400 Speaker 1: Workers Strike. After voting the strike on February eleventh night, 6 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 1: Memphis sanitation workers stayed off the job starting on the 7 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: twelfth and a strike that lasted for nine weeks. This 8 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: is a strike that brought Dr Martin Luther King Jr. 9 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: To Memphis, Tennessee, where he was assassinated on April four 10 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:40,920 Speaker 1: of that year. And for a lot of folks, that 11 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: is really what they know about the strike. They know 12 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 1: it's the reason that Dr King was in Memphis that day, 13 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:50,560 Speaker 1: but his assassination also really overshadowed the strike itself, which 14 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: had been going on for a month before he arrived 15 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: on the scene. So today we're going to talk about 16 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: the strike which started out as an effort to secure 17 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: better pay and conditions for sanitation kers in Memphis, but 18 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: really came to be considered part of the greater civil 19 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:08,759 Speaker 1: rights movement and the movement for economic justice. Memphis sits 20 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: along the Mississippi River in West Tennessee, and today its 21 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: population is majority black, but in the nineteen sixties his 22 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: population was about forty black, and about sixty of those 23 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: black residents were living in poverty. More than eighty percent 24 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,399 Speaker 1: of black men living in Memphis were employed doing menial 25 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 1: labor for very low pay. Many had moved to the 26 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: city from nearby rural areas, leaving behind sharecropping cotton in 27 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,320 Speaker 1: the hope of a better life. When Memphis City schools 28 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: desegregated in nineteen sixty one, things progressed without the level 29 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 1: of violence that struck so many other parts of the South, 30 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: staring school desegregation. By the late sixties, the city government 31 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: included some elected and appointed black officials as well, but 32 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: at the same time, Memphis really still had something of 33 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: a plantation mentality. This mentality was particularly obvious in the 34 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: city's Department of Public Works, especially when it came to sanitation. 35 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: The workforce for waste collection was overwhelmingly black, with the 36 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 1: only white employees working as supervisors or drivers. In bad weather, 37 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: employees who worked outside who were predominantly black would be 38 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:23,359 Speaker 1: sent home without pay, while their supervisors, who were white 39 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: were allowed to stay on the job. Even though there 40 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: really wasn't much for them to do. Most of the 41 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: garbage collectors made minimum wage, which was a dollar and 42 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,080 Speaker 1: sixty cents an hour for forty hours of work a week. 43 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: There was no overtime pay, but you were expected to 44 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:40,919 Speaker 1: work for as long as it took you to finish 45 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: your collection route, no matter how long that took. So 46 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 1: a lot of the men were working more like sixty 47 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 1: hours a week for forty hours of pay. This was 48 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: just not enough money to make ends meet. About of 49 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: memphisis sanitation workers qualified for welfare assistance, hundreds were on 50 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: food stamps, and some had second jobs. But there was 51 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: a perception in Memphis that sanitation workers had a benefit 52 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: that made up for this. They got so called handouts 53 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: from households when they collected garbage. This was generally cast 54 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,079 Speaker 1: off clothing given to the workers rather than just throwing 55 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: it away. Aside from the pay, sanitation workers had a dehumanizing, filthy, 56 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: and physically demanding job and most parts of town trash 57 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: wasn't brought out to the curb on collection day, and 58 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: workers had to go behind every house to retrieve a 59 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: fifty five gallon metal garbage can or a tub and 60 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: then haul it back to the truck. For the smaller tubs, 61 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: you could ease some of the strain on your arms 62 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 1: and your back by carrying it on your head or 63 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: on your shoulder. But this was before the days of 64 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: using plastic liners and trash cans, so the cans leaked 65 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: everything from filthy water to maggots on the people who 66 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: were carrying them. Sanitation workers had nowhere to shower or 67 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: change clothes on the job, so they had to go 68 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: home at the end of the day in this same 69 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 1: filthy clothes and take off as much as they could 70 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: before they got into the house. They had no clean 71 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: place to eat lunch, no paid time off, no grievance process, 72 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: and no workers comp if they were injured on the job. 73 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 1: In fact, if you were injured on the job, you 74 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,599 Speaker 1: ran the risk of being fired for it. In addition, 75 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 1: I'm not having a clean place to eat lunch. They 76 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: didn't have anywhere to wash their hands before eating lunch. Uh. 77 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:28,039 Speaker 1: And there are like oral histories and and other interviews 78 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: where they talked about like we would find a scrap 79 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 1: of soap that had been thrown away, and like try 80 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: to use that to wash our hands before we ate 81 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 1: collecting garbage is still i would say, not a pleasant job. No, 82 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: but it was worse in the sixties. In Memphis in 83 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:47,239 Speaker 1: the sixties, a former sanitation worker named t O. Jones 84 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:50,800 Speaker 1: had started trying to organize a union. Jones had been 85 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,720 Speaker 1: a sanitation worker himself from ninety eight to nineteen sixty three, 86 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,360 Speaker 1: and he had led a spontaneous walk out of thirty 87 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:01,160 Speaker 1: two other workers that year. All of those work, including Jones, 88 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: were fired. Most of them eventually got their jobs back, 89 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,280 Speaker 1: but rather than returning to work for the city, Jones 90 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:11,280 Speaker 1: turned his attention to labor activism. In August of nineteen 91 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: sixty four, after months of work, the American Federation of State, 92 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 1: County and Municipal Employees or Asked Me, granted the sanitation 93 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:22,600 Speaker 1: workers a charter as Local seventeen thirty three. I'm not 94 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: sure if this is actually intentional, but a lot of 95 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: the like the local lore about it is that thirty 96 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: three at the end of the number is in reference 97 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,039 Speaker 1: to those thirty three workers who had walked out and 98 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: been fired in uh in nineteen sixty three. The city, however, 99 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: did not recognize this union or allow it to negotiate 100 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:45,680 Speaker 1: on behalf of the workers. The city also refused to 101 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:48,720 Speaker 1: deduct union dues from members paychecks, which is known as 102 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: dues check off. Dues check off can be a contentious 103 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: issue in the world of labor relations, but it allows 104 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,479 Speaker 1: the union to collect dues efficiently without workers having to 105 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:01,599 Speaker 1: keep up with or make in visual payments to the union, 106 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:04,480 Speaker 1: and in this case, it's something that the union members 107 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:09,600 Speaker 1: specifically wanted. In nineteen sixty six, the sanitation workers tried 108 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:12,160 Speaker 1: to go on strike for better working conditions, but the 109 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: city petitioned the court for an injunction to stop to strike. 110 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: The resulting court order forbade any future strikes or demonstrations 111 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: by municipal employees. A lot of the workers were also 112 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 1: really reluctant to make waves even if they had joined 113 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: the union. That mass firing in nineteen sixty three made 114 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:33,160 Speaker 1: it clear that their jobs would be at risk. Then, 115 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty eight, two events shifted things for Memphis 116 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:41,119 Speaker 1: sanitation workers. The first was that Henry Loebe was sworn 117 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:43,680 Speaker 1: in his mayor after being elected in a runoff in 118 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty seven. Loebe had served as mayor from nineteen 119 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:50,839 Speaker 1: sixty to nineteen sixty four as well, and both times 120 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:54,599 Speaker 1: he had run on a campaign of so called white unity. 121 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 1: He was a conservative, anti union segregationist, and in the 122 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: runoff election he had to feated incumbent William B. Ingram. 123 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: Ingram's record on race wasn't all that progressive, but he 124 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: had spoken to black church congregations, and he had a 125 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: reputation for treating black defendants fairly in his work as 126 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: a judge. And the election that led to that runoff, 127 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: Artie Walker Willis, known as a w had also been defeated. 128 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: Willis was a black civil rights activist, a lawyer, and 129 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 1: a businessman who had helped desegregate Memphis public schools. So, 130 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 1: with the defeats of both Willis and Ingram and the 131 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 1: election of Henry Loebe, the nineteen sixties seven mayoral election 132 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 1: felt like a huge step backward for the black community 133 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: in Memphis. The second event was the tragic and horrifying 134 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: deaths of two sanitation workers on February one. Ecle Cole 135 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: and Robert Walker had taken shelter in the back of 136 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: their garbage truck to try to get out of a 137 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 1: heavy rain. A short circuit caused the truck's compactor to 138 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: start without warning, and they weren't able to escape. These 139 00:07:57,600 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: trucks were well past the end of their life expect 140 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: to see, and the workers had been raising concerns about 141 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 1: their safety for months before this tragic event happened. Cole 142 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: and Walker were both in their thirties. They both had 143 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: families and children, and the city gave each family five 144 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 1: hundred dollars to cover funeral expenses along with a month's 145 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: pay for Cole and Walker. They got no other compensation, 146 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 1: no other insurance pay out, and no one from the 147 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 1: city attended either man's funeral. The city also did nothing 148 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: to address whether the same malfunction could happen again in 149 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: all these trucks that were still on the road. After 150 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,959 Speaker 1: the two men's deaths, union leaders stepped up their efforts 151 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: to get the city to officially recognize the union and 152 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:42,080 Speaker 1: to allow the union to negotiate a contract for the 153 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:48,560 Speaker 1: sanitation workers. Mayor Loebes steadfastly refused. This refusal is what 154 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: ultimately led the men to strike, which we are going 155 00:08:50,960 --> 00:09:00,319 Speaker 1: to get to after a quick sponsor break. On February eleventh, nineteen, 156 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: after talks with the city failed to reach any kind 157 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 1: of resolution, the Memphis Sanitation Workers Union voted to go 158 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 1: on strike. Ed Gillis, who was one of the workers, 159 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 1: became their main liaison with t O. Jones, and Jones 160 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: became the workers representative with the city. Going on strike 161 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:20,040 Speaker 1: was a risky decision. On top of the inherent risk 162 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:22,320 Speaker 1: in walking off the job and the loss of income 163 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: that comes with it, Striking workers often face harassment, intimidation, threats, 164 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: and even violence. Then there was also the injunction prohibiting 165 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 1: municipal employees from going on strike. The workers also voted 166 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: to strike without discussing it with National ASTHMY leadership. They 167 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:42,720 Speaker 1: knew that the national organization wasn't really likely to support 168 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: this decision. In general, garbage strikes are a lot more 169 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:49,320 Speaker 1: effective in the summer because it's hot and the garbage 170 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:51,440 Speaker 1: is a lot stickier, and the public gets a lot 171 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:54,960 Speaker 1: more on board with getting things resolved quickly. The National 172 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 1: organization also didn't have a fund that could support the strike. 173 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: Knew that the city already had a strong anti union sentiment, 174 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 1: and it was a union of black workers and a 175 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 1: majority white Southern city with a segregationist mayor. So at 176 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:11,319 Speaker 1: the beginning of the strike, the Memphis sanitation workers were 177 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:16,720 Speaker 1: essentially on their own regardless. On Monday, February twelve, most 178 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:20,440 Speaker 1: of the city's hundred sanitation workers did not go to work. 179 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 1: According to reports, two hundred or so state on the job, 180 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 1: but fewer than forty of the city's fleet of one 181 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:31,079 Speaker 1: eight garbage trucks rolled out that day. From the very beginning, 182 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 1: Mayor Loeb maintained that the strike was illegal and that 183 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 1: he would not negotiate with the men in any way 184 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:40,960 Speaker 1: unless they returned to work. The strike progressed, along with 185 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,560 Speaker 1: meetings and protests to try to draw attention to the 186 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 1: workers demands. Uncollected garbage started to pile up around the city. 187 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 1: Some residents hauled their own garbage to the dump, while 188 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:55,200 Speaker 1: organizations like the j c S raged bulk pickups. By 189 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,240 Speaker 1: February fourteenth, the few garbage trucks that were still on 190 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 1: the road were traveling with police escorts. The Memphis branch 191 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 1: of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 192 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: that is, the a CP, endorsed the strike on the 193 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: sixteenth of February. On the eighteenth, asked ME national president 194 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:16,599 Speaker 1: Jerry Whorf arrived in Memphis to help with the negotiations, 195 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 1: having been convinced that the strike should go ahead. There 196 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 1: wasn't much progress between the city and the union, though. 197 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 1: On the eighteenth, Rabbi James Wax tried to mediate one 198 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:30,000 Speaker 1: of the many meetings that would take place over the 199 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,439 Speaker 1: course of the strike. Talks went on until five am 200 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:37,079 Speaker 1: with nothing resolved. After a sit in at City Hall, 201 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:41,840 Speaker 1: a city council subcommittee voted to recognize the Sanitation Workers union. 202 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,320 Speaker 1: This took place on February twenty two, and the committee 203 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,880 Speaker 1: recommended an increase in the workers pay as well. They 204 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:51,680 Speaker 1: passed all these recommendations up to the mayor, who again 205 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:55,520 Speaker 1: stated that he would not negotiate with the union. On 206 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:58,719 Speaker 1: the twenty three the full city Council was scheduled to 207 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: vote on the sub committee resolution. The striking workers arranged 208 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 1: a nonviolent march to City Hall to coincide with this vote, 209 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 1: but in the end, the city Council voted to support 210 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: the mayor rather than supporting the striking workers. The crowd 211 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:17,559 Speaker 1: of about people was of course disappointed and angry at 212 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: this decision. They started their return march from City Hall 213 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:25,000 Speaker 1: back to Mason Temple, Church of God in Christ, but 214 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:28,400 Speaker 1: as they were marching, police started nudging their cruisers into 215 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:31,720 Speaker 1: the marchers. Until one eventually rolled over a woman's foot. 216 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:35,760 Speaker 1: People nearby responded by pushing and rocking the police car. 217 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:39,720 Speaker 1: Then police broke up the march with indiscriminate use of 218 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 1: mace in what came to be known as the Mazing 219 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:47,040 Speaker 1: of Main Street. Seven protesters were arrested and jailed the 220 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:50,160 Speaker 1: next day. In response to this, about a hundred and 221 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 1: fifty local clergy formed the Community on the Move for 222 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:56,840 Speaker 1: Equality or COME to act as allies to the striking 223 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:00,840 Speaker 1: sanitation workers. They plan to use non violence of disobedience 224 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:03,200 Speaker 1: to put more pressure on the city and to raise 225 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:07,160 Speaker 1: more awareness of these issues. The Reverend James T. Lawson, 226 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:11,160 Speaker 1: activist and pastor at Sentinary Methodist Church in Memphis, led 227 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 1: this new organization. Before moving to Memphis, Lawson had a 228 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:18,480 Speaker 1: long history with the civil rights movement, including helping to 229 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:21,840 Speaker 1: coordinate the Freedom Rides in nineteen sixty one. He's one 230 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:25,040 Speaker 1: of the civil rights leaders still alive as of when 231 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,720 Speaker 1: we are recording this podcast. Over the course of the strike, 232 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,800 Speaker 1: Come printed its own newspaper called The Appeal, to keep 233 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:35,960 Speaker 1: the community informed about what was happening and offer guidance 234 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:38,959 Speaker 1: about how to stay involved and to rally the greater 235 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 1: community around the cause of the striking workers. This included 236 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:46,479 Speaker 1: daily marches and protests with the intent of filling Memphisis 237 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:51,600 Speaker 1: jails with non violent demonstrators. Another of the organization strategies 238 00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:55,720 Speaker 1: was a boycott of all downtown Memphis businesses, especially the 239 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 1: ones that had connections to the mayor and his family. 240 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:02,200 Speaker 1: A lot of this episode today is really focused on men, 241 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 1: because the striking workers and many of the city and 242 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: civil rights leaders involved were men. But here's where we 243 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,040 Speaker 1: should note that women were an active part of this 244 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:15,280 Speaker 1: strike as well. Overwhelmingly, women were the ones maintaining this 245 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,679 Speaker 1: boycott of downtown businesses. The mayor and his family had 246 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 1: a lot of businesses downtown, so this was affecting the 247 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: mayor directly. Women were also active in the church community 248 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 1: and civil rights organizations that were arranging demonstrations and aid 249 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: for the striking workers. Women prepared food, they laundered and 250 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 1: donated clothing, and they participated in the marches, sit ins, 251 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:39,720 Speaker 1: and other demonstrations themselves as well. This strike really could 252 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,720 Speaker 1: not have continued without the involvement of women. Even with 253 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: Memphisis religious community increasingly supporting the strike, the stalemate between 254 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:53,120 Speaker 1: the union and the city continued Local seventeen thirty three 255 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,920 Speaker 1: drafted and distributed an apology letter to the city. It began, 256 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: to our fellow citizens, we apologize for the inconvenience created 257 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:03,960 Speaker 1: by the mayor of your city. He has refused to 258 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:07,320 Speaker 1: recognize the basic human needs of the workers who provide 259 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 1: vital services to you and your family. Every Man should 260 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: receive a decent wage for his labor. Every Man should 261 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:17,040 Speaker 1: have the right to have his grievances resolved in an 262 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:21,200 Speaker 1: orderly fashion without fear of reprisal. Every man who performs 263 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 1: his work should have security on his job. Every man 264 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 1: should have adequate insurance to meet the needs of unexpected 265 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 1: illness or death. And the letter went on from there 266 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: and it concluded that these were not issues of race relations, 267 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: that it was about economic justice and dignity for all 268 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 1: of those who work for a living. On February twenty nine, 269 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 1: the mayor published a letter of his own in the 270 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: Memphis Press Scimitar, in which he maintained again that the 271 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: strike was illegal and that no negotiation would happen until 272 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,840 Speaker 1: everyone returned to work. Only after everyone went back to 273 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 1: work would he meet with representatives of the Public Works Department, 274 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 1: And in his words quote make our meaning full grievance 275 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: procedure even more meaningful. The letter said that the mayor 276 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 1: would recommend an eight cent raised, but it also made 277 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:11,120 Speaker 1: it clear that he would not approve dudes check off. 278 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: The mayor also sent letters to every striking worker, and 279 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:18,880 Speaker 1: each letter invited that man back to work that day 280 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 1: without union recognition and without any other concessions. The union 281 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: filed a suit against the city in federal court, but 282 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 1: the court rejected that suit on March one. The same day, 283 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 1: the mayor's home was vandalized and he blamed the striking workers. 284 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:37,880 Speaker 1: By this point, the Memphis strike had started to gain 285 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 1: more attention among national civil rights leaders. Reverend Lawson and 286 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,640 Speaker 1: was a friend and colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 287 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 1: And he had been in touch with him about the strike, 288 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 1: and on March five, the announcement came that King was 289 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: coming to Memphis. We're gonna talk more about this part 290 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 1: of the story. After we first paused for a little 291 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:05,399 Speaker 1: sponsor break. In March of nineteen sixty eight, tensions in 292 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:09,320 Speaker 1: Memphis were escalating. Ten union leaders had been jailed for 293 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:12,920 Speaker 1: contempt of court. On the sixth, demonstrators held a mock 294 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 1: funeral at City Hall to symbolically mourn the depth of 295 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:19,639 Speaker 1: freedom in Memphis. Trash fires had broken out in South 296 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: Memphis on the eight and the National Guard had started 297 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:27,200 Speaker 1: holding drills at the Mayor's suggestion a day later. By 298 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:30,439 Speaker 1: mid March, national civil rights leaders had arrived on the scene, 299 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:34,439 Speaker 1: including n double a CP executive secretary Roy Wilkins and 300 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:37,000 Speaker 1: Bayard Rustin, who is the subject of a two part 301 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:41,320 Speaker 1: podcast in our archive. Ralph David Abernathy and James Bevel 302 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:44,240 Speaker 1: of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference came to Memphis to 303 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: work with the strike as well. On March fourteenth, Roy 304 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: Wilkins met with a crowd of about ten thousand people 305 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 1: and encouraged them to approach the strike as a non 306 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:56,640 Speaker 1: violent protest, and on the fifteenth he held a news 307 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:00,959 Speaker 1: conference expressing the national civil rights movements support of this strike. 308 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,879 Speaker 1: At this point, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Was working 309 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:08,480 Speaker 1: on the Poor People's Campaign. This is a planned series 310 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:12,720 Speaker 1: of protests for economic justice, jobs, education, and housing which 311 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:16,040 Speaker 1: were to culminate in a takeover and mass occupation of 312 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:20,080 Speaker 1: the National Mall in Washington, d C. During this occupation, 313 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 1: people would live on the mall in a shantytown to 314 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:26,680 Speaker 1: emphasize the disparities and wealth between rich and poor people 315 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:30,359 Speaker 1: in the United States. King had begun to conceive of 316 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: the Poor People's Campaign after visiting some of the poorest 317 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:36,240 Speaker 1: parts of the South, after which he refocused his own 318 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:41,040 Speaker 1: advocacy to include economic inequality in addition to racial inequality. 319 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: And even though the Poor People's Campaign was ultimately focused 320 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 1: on Washington, King saw how compatible the Memphis strike was 321 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,720 Speaker 1: with it, so he decided to basically make the Memphis 322 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:55,200 Speaker 1: strike part of the Poor People's Campaign. He arrived in 323 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 1: Memphis on March eighteenth, more than a month into the strike, 324 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: which is really when the strike started to become national news. 325 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:05,160 Speaker 1: On the eighteenth, he addressed a huge crowd at Mason Temple. 326 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:08,600 Speaker 1: Estimates of the total attendance very I saw it and 327 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:12,320 Speaker 1: marked as anywhere from fifteen thousand to twenty five thousand people, 328 00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:16,640 Speaker 1: regardless though it is believed to be the largest indoor 329 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:20,600 Speaker 1: gathering of the civil rights movement. The address King delivered 330 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:22,520 Speaker 1: that day laid out why he saw them at the 331 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:26,119 Speaker 1: strike is so compatible with the Poor People's Campaign, and 332 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: in it he asked what good it did to sit 333 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: in an integrated lunch counter if you could not afford 334 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: to eat there. He went on to address the workers themselves, quote, 335 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,160 Speaker 1: you are demanding that the city will respect the dignity 336 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:41,520 Speaker 1: of labor. So often we overlook the worth and the 337 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,840 Speaker 1: significance of those who are not in professional jobs, of 338 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:48,360 Speaker 1: those not in the so called big jobs. But let 339 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:51,680 Speaker 1: me say to you tonight that whenever you are engaged 340 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:54,840 Speaker 1: in work that serves humanity and is for the building 341 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 1: of humanity, it has dignity and it has worth. One 342 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,080 Speaker 1: day our society he must come to see this. One 343 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:05,359 Speaker 1: day our society will come to respect the sanitation worker 344 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 1: if it is to survive. For the person who picks 345 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:11,439 Speaker 1: up our garbage, in the final analysis, is as significant 346 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:14,359 Speaker 1: as the physician, for if he doesn't do his job, 347 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:19,679 Speaker 1: diseases are rampant. All labor has dignity. The plan was 348 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:22,359 Speaker 1: for King to return on March twenty two, but an 349 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 1: unexpected snowstorm forced it to be rescheduled to the twenty eight. 350 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,399 Speaker 1: In the interim, the city and the union agreed to 351 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 1: mediation and round the clock talks, but by those talks 352 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:38,360 Speaker 1: had once again fallen apart, so by the time they 353 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 1: thrived the situation in Memphis had become incredibly tense. About 354 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,080 Speaker 1: twenty two thousand students skipped school to be part of 355 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:48,760 Speaker 1: the march, and before the march actually began, some of 356 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:52,560 Speaker 1: them were spotted throwing rocks at police. King was also 357 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,360 Speaker 1: delayed and arriving because of a bomb threat, and by 358 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,000 Speaker 1: the time he got there everyone was really on edge, 359 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 1: and video footage from this mark he was also obviously exhausted. 360 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:06,680 Speaker 1: Early in the march, violence broke out someone and it's 361 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:11,520 Speaker 1: not clear who started breaking windows. Looting and fires followed. 362 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:16,200 Speaker 1: Organizers took King to a hotel as chaos spread through Memphis. 363 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,440 Speaker 1: Over the course of the day, sixty two people were injured, 364 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,400 Speaker 1: nearly all of them black, and an unarmed sixteen year 365 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: old named Larry Payne was shot and killed by police. 366 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 1: Organizers tried to control the crowd and get them to 367 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:32,560 Speaker 1: return to Claybourne Temple, African Methodist Episcopal Church, which was 368 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:36,160 Speaker 1: being used as the headquarters for the strike, but once 369 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:39,520 Speaker 1: they did, police surrounded the church through tear gas through 370 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 1: the windows and clubbed people with nightsticks as they escaped. 371 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:46,679 Speaker 1: About two hundred and eighty people were arrested following the 372 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:51,720 Speaker 1: incidents of march, the state legislature implemented a seven pm 373 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:55,840 Speaker 1: curfew in Memphis. The mayor placed the city under martial law, 374 00:21:56,040 --> 00:22:01,040 Speaker 1: and four thousand National Guard troops were called to the scene. Initially, 375 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:03,879 Speaker 1: the violence that had broken out at the at the 376 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 1: march was blamed on an organization of young black activists 377 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:11,640 Speaker 1: known as the Invaders, but one of their leaders, Charles Cabbage, 378 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:13,919 Speaker 1: met with King and had denied that he had been 379 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:18,000 Speaker 1: involved in any way, and other interviews other members maintained 380 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:20,880 Speaker 1: that they knew about and followed King's commitment to non 381 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 1: violence at the march. So it's I mean, it's just 382 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:26,199 Speaker 1: really not clear who started the rock throwing in the 383 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:29,679 Speaker 1: first place. The striking workers continued their daily marches on 384 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,560 Speaker 1: the twenty nine, now proceeding past tanks and National guardsmen 385 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:37,399 Speaker 1: armed with bayoneted rifles. Many of them carried signs that 386 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,720 Speaker 1: simply read I Am a Man, a slogan credited to 387 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:44,160 Speaker 1: William Lucy known as Bill from the National Ask Me Office. 388 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:47,960 Speaker 1: Before he went back to Atlanta, King gave a press 389 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 1: conference and which he was asked why he had abandoned 390 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:54,119 Speaker 1: the march. He said that he hadn't abandoned anything that 391 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: he had always said that he wouldn't lead a violent demonstration, 392 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,920 Speaker 1: he found himself under really heavy criticism from all sides. 393 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: To the white community, he was an outside agitator who 394 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:08,520 Speaker 1: had come to Memphis, start up trouble and left. Critics 395 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:10,280 Speaker 1: in the black community said that he was out of 396 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 1: touch with the people of Memphis and what their needs were, 397 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:15,240 Speaker 1: and that if he didn't connect more with the local 398 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:18,120 Speaker 1: communities he came to, he would have the same problem 399 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:22,359 Speaker 1: everywhere he went. After all of this, King debated whether 400 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:25,040 Speaker 1: to go back to Memphis. On the one hand, this 401 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:28,760 Speaker 1: situation was obviously volatile. He could not be associated with 402 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: violent demonstrations, nor could the Poor People's Campaign or the 403 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 1: greater Civil Rights movement. But it seemed just as damaging 404 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 1: to have gone to Memphis, left in the wake of 405 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:41,600 Speaker 1: an outbreak of violence, and then stayed away without finishing 406 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:45,800 Speaker 1: what he started there. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was 407 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,480 Speaker 1: also divided about what Kings should do, but on March 408 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,920 Speaker 1: Thirtie finally agreed to support his going back to Memphis. 409 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:55,200 Speaker 1: He arrived on April third, at which point the curfew 410 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: and Memphis had been lifted for two days. The plan 411 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:00,720 Speaker 1: was for him to give an address on the third, 412 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,320 Speaker 1: then then lead a march on the fourth. King delivered 413 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,639 Speaker 1: this address at Mason Temple. The crowd was enormous in 414 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,679 Speaker 1: spite of a terrible storm. In this speech, which is 415 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,600 Speaker 1: known as I've been to the Mountaintop, King said, I've 416 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:16,480 Speaker 1: seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, 417 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:18,880 Speaker 1: but I want you to know tonight that we as 418 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,399 Speaker 1: a people will get to the Promised Land, and we 419 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:23,639 Speaker 1: will link to the entirety of that speech in the 420 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: show notes to this episode. Yeah, a lot of people 421 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:32,679 Speaker 1: describe it as as prophetic in hindsight, because it's clear 422 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:35,800 Speaker 1: in this speech that King thought someone was going to 423 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:39,680 Speaker 1: kill him. There were plenty of threats that had led 424 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 1: up to this moment, but like it is really obvious 425 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:44,159 Speaker 1: from the text of this speech that he was speaking 426 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,320 Speaker 1: as a man who knew that he was going to 427 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 1: die in service to try and to get justice for 428 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:53,639 Speaker 1: other people. I don't think that he knew he was 429 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 1: going to die tomorrow. The next day, April four, King 430 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 1: was at the Lorraine Mote All getting ready for dinner. 431 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:04,640 Speaker 1: He left his second floor room and leaned out over 432 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:07,199 Speaker 1: the railing to talk to people below where he was 433 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 1: shot at six o one pm. King was pronounced dead 434 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 1: a little over an hour later. James Earl Ray pleaded 435 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 1: guilty to the crime, but he later recanted that confession, 436 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:21,680 Speaker 1: and ongoing questions linger about whether or not he acted alone. 437 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:26,200 Speaker 1: Shock and outrage followed the assassination, and demonstrations and riots 438 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 1: swept through cities throughout the United States. In Memphis, Mayor 439 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 1: Loebe still refused to negotiate. President Lyndon Baines Johnson ultimately 440 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:38,679 Speaker 1: sent his Secretary of Labor, James Reynolds, to Memphis to 441 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,800 Speaker 1: settle the strike. Reynolds started holding meetings on April six. 442 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:47,840 Speaker 1: Southern Christian Leadership Conference leaders and Coretta Scott King, King's widow, 443 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:51,040 Speaker 1: led a silent march in Memphis on April the eight 444 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:55,000 Speaker 1: to honor Dr King and to support the Memphis sanitation workers. 445 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: Ahead of this march, Reverend James Lawson wrote out instructions 446 00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 1: to the participants. They began, quote, doctor King came to 447 00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:05,280 Speaker 1: Memphis to help all of us, and especially to help 448 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: the sanitation workers win economic justice. We asked him to 449 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,520 Speaker 1: come because we wanted to win this strike as human 450 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 1: beings and as men, not as animals who used violence. 451 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:20,479 Speaker 1: Doctor King died in Memphis trying to help us. Today, 452 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:22,840 Speaker 1: we honor doctor King for the great work he did 453 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:26,760 Speaker 1: for all people, and particularly his great love and sacrifice 454 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:30,960 Speaker 1: for us. Lawson's instructions went on to ask how is 455 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:34,199 Speaker 1: it best to honor him now? And they answered to 456 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,440 Speaker 1: make sure that sanitation workers in Memphis won their rights 457 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:41,560 Speaker 1: without violence. Then they directed the marchers to carry themselves silently, 458 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:45,720 Speaker 1: with pride and dignity. The instructions final line read, let 459 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:48,680 Speaker 1: us march in peace that there shall be peace. More 460 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:52,480 Speaker 1: than forty people were part of the silent march. Martin 461 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:55,560 Speaker 1: Luther King Jr's funeral took place in Atlanta the next day, 462 00:26:55,720 --> 00:27:00,240 Speaker 1: April nine. After King's death, the strike continued until negotiates 463 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 1: finally reached a deal on April sixteenth. Nine. Terms included 464 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:09,240 Speaker 1: to pay increases totaling fifteen cents an hour, recognition of 465 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:13,200 Speaker 1: the union, and dues check off. The terms also promised 466 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:16,840 Speaker 1: the creation of grievance procedures and promotions based on seniority 467 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: and merit. Striking workers were to report for duty, with 468 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:23,879 Speaker 1: anyone not back on the job by April removed from 469 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:28,159 Speaker 1: the city payroll. The so called Memorandum of understanding was 470 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:32,680 Speaker 1: essentially a contract which would expire on June nineteen sixty nine. 471 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:37,040 Speaker 1: Although the city did recognize the union, it didn't set 472 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,160 Speaker 1: the sanitation department up as a union shop. In other words, 473 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:43,440 Speaker 1: employees did not have to join the union. This gave 474 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:46,359 Speaker 1: employees freedom to choose to join the union or not, 475 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:49,280 Speaker 1: but it also gave the union less leverage since it 476 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:53,320 Speaker 1: didn't necessarily represent all of the employees when trying to negotiate. 477 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:57,199 Speaker 1: After the Memphis strike, other municipal and service workers in 478 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:01,159 Speaker 1: the South started to unionize. Asked Me became one of 479 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:04,080 Speaker 1: the largest unions in the country, and Local seventeen thirty 480 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:08,440 Speaker 1: three became the largest union in Memphis. On April twenty nine, 481 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:12,440 Speaker 1: two thousand eleven, the Memphis Sanitation Workers were inducted into 482 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,440 Speaker 1: the U. S Department of Labor's Labor Hall of Fame. 483 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,240 Speaker 1: In twenty seventeen, the city of Memphis announced that it 484 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:22,600 Speaker 1: would compensate the nineteen sixty eight sanitation workers who were 485 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:26,160 Speaker 1: still living with a tax free grant of fifty thousand dollars. 486 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 1: The city council eventually increased this to seventy thousand dollars. 487 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:33,880 Speaker 1: This is basically in lieu of a pension and their 488 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: initial negotiations, the union had opted out of the city's 489 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:41,719 Speaker 1: pension program in favor of social security. It only became 490 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:45,000 Speaker 1: clear that social security alone would not be enough money 491 00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:48,680 Speaker 1: to secure a person's retirement later on, and this led 492 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: to years of negotiations and a complicated legal tangle that 493 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 1: was never successfully resolved. The mayor's twenty seventeen announcement also 494 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,720 Speaker 1: included plans to improve retirement benefits for current solid waste 495 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:04,560 Speaker 1: workers in the city. When the city initially made this announcement, 496 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: it knew of fourteen surviving strikers, and that number has 497 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,960 Speaker 1: since grown to at least twenty six. On December eleventh, 498 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:16,320 Speaker 1: surviving sanitation workers helped break ground on the I Am 499 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 1: a Man Plaza at the historic Claybourne Temple. This is 500 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:22,120 Speaker 1: a memorial for the strike and it's expected to be 501 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 1: completed before the April anniversaries of King's assassination and the 502 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:29,959 Speaker 1: strikes end. Then Double A CP honored the strikers at 503 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:34,200 Speaker 1: their Image Awards on January nine with the Vanguard Award, 504 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:39,280 Speaker 1: and William Lucy received the Chairman's Award. On January fourteen. 505 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:42,880 Speaker 1: Surviving workers were in attendance for the ceremony, four of 506 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:46,440 Speaker 1: whom were still employed as sanitation workers for the city 507 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:50,720 Speaker 1: of Memphis. There are, as as obvious, a lot of 508 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:54,760 Speaker 1: facts involved with this still alive. There's also a lot 509 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:58,600 Speaker 1: of video footage. There is a documentary that I watched 510 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:00,920 Speaker 1: as part of the research for of this, which is 511 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:04,400 Speaker 1: called at the River I stand. Um, the Route is 512 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:08,560 Speaker 1: doing a video series about the strike, really focused on 513 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:11,400 Speaker 1: the workers themselves. UM. A lot of those videos. I 514 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:13,640 Speaker 1: don't think any of them are actually out yet as 515 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:15,680 Speaker 1: of when we were recording this podcast, but they were 516 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:18,080 Speaker 1: going to start coming out over the coming weeks, so 517 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:21,240 Speaker 1: that I'm sure we'll be very interesting to watch. Um. 518 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:23,440 Speaker 1: We should note that a lot of the conditions that 519 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,920 Speaker 1: were being protested during the strikes still exist. There are 520 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:29,479 Speaker 1: still jobs where you can work full time and still 521 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 1: qualify for things like snap which is what food stamps 522 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,360 Speaker 1: are called now. So, as is so often the case 523 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:37,880 Speaker 1: with things that we talked about on the show, Uh, 524 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:42,640 Speaker 1: conditions that were being protested in still exist in the 525 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:46,600 Speaker 1: country today. Do you have a little bit of listener mail? Sure? 526 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:50,880 Speaker 1: New This is from Sarah, and Sarah wrote to say, 527 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:54,400 Speaker 1: dear Holly and Tracy, you guys are the best. I 528 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:56,720 Speaker 1: never thought I would enjoy podcasts until my best friend 529 00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 1: recommended yours, and it's been an obsession ever since. I 530 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:02,320 Speaker 1: started listening to the very beginning of the series back 531 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:05,680 Speaker 1: in September, and by December, only four months later, I 532 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:08,560 Speaker 1: had gone through the complete archive and was completely caught up. 533 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:11,400 Speaker 1: As I went through the series, I had a long 534 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:13,920 Speaker 1: and comprehensive list of topics I wanted to add my 535 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 1: two cents to, but then it lost its importance, mostly 536 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,600 Speaker 1: until I listened to a recent podcast on the NORAD 537 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:25,000 Speaker 1: Santa Tracker. You mentioned the Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado Springs, 538 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:26,680 Speaker 1: and I had to write in. You see, I grew 539 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:29,239 Speaker 1: up as a military brat GO Air Force, and I 540 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:32,960 Speaker 1: never knew that there was another underground military site like 541 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:35,920 Speaker 1: the one in my hometown of Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania. 542 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,920 Speaker 1: It's called Raven Rock Mountain Complex r r m C, 543 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:42,880 Speaker 1: also known as Site Are Because actually wasn't the first 544 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:45,240 Speaker 1: time I wanted to plug my little hometown in your podcast. 545 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:47,240 Speaker 1: The first time was way back when there was a 546 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:50,320 Speaker 1: Wallace Simpson episode and I knew she was born here 547 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:52,400 Speaker 1: and I was waiting for my town to be heard 548 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,160 Speaker 1: on the podcast when lo and Behole, all was said 549 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:57,840 Speaker 1: was that she was born in Pennsylvania. The second time 550 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:00,520 Speaker 1: was the Gettysburg Battle podcast, because of the Battle of 551 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:04,200 Speaker 1: Monterey Pass, happened when the Confederates were retreating from Gettysburg. 552 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:07,040 Speaker 1: Not to mention, my town also has one of the 553 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:09,800 Speaker 1: oldest golf courses in the country. Funny that we only 554 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:11,760 Speaker 1: have a population of a thousand people and there's so 555 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:15,000 Speaker 1: much history packed into our little area. It does help 556 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,080 Speaker 1: that we are located near Gettysburg, Camp David, Fort Detrick, 557 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:21,480 Speaker 1: and only a few hours from Washington d c uh 558 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:25,560 Speaker 1: And then she suggests, uh, not necessarily a podcast about 559 00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 1: her hometown, but maybe about some of the other secret 560 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:32,760 Speaker 1: underground military facilities or some of the less known battles 561 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 1: of the Civil War. Thank you so much, Sarah, I 562 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:40,719 Speaker 1: in fact was not aware that there were multiple underground 563 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:45,080 Speaker 1: under mountain secret military bases. Now I do so thank 564 00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:47,840 Speaker 1: you Sarah for writing in about that. If you would 565 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:49,920 Speaker 1: like to write to us about this or any other podcast, 566 00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:52,920 Speaker 1: were History podcast that How Stuffworks dot com. We're also 567 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:55,840 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Facebook dot com slash miss in History. 568 00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:58,520 Speaker 1: Our Twitter is miss in History. Our Pinterest name is 569 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:01,400 Speaker 1: miss in History, our Instagram, amazmos and history missed in 570 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,640 Speaker 1: History all over the place. You can come to our website, 571 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: which is missed in History dot com, where you will 572 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:08,560 Speaker 1: find show notes for all the episodes that Holly and 573 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:11,480 Speaker 1: I haven't done together. The show notes for today's episode 574 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:15,200 Speaker 1: will include linked to the text of Martin Luther King's 575 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:17,840 Speaker 1: last speech and so you can do a whole that, 576 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: and a whole lot more at our website, which is 577 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:28,280 Speaker 1: ms history dot com. For more on this and thousands 578 00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:38,880 Speaker 1: of other topics, visit how staff works dot com.