Still Seeking Justice: 50th Anniversary of the Sanitation Workers Strike, Labor Continues Fight for Safety

Memphis sanitation workers on strike for union recognition, better pay, and safe work conditions in 1968 (top), and Local 315 sanitation workers at Republic Services waiting in line for dispatch (bottom) in 2017.

In the rainstorms on February 1st 1968, there was a horrendous malfunction with the trash compactor of a garbage truck, crushing sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker to death in Memphis, Tennessee. Years before this disaster, sanitation workers’ plea for union recognition by the city were ignored, while being routinely faced with dangerous working conditions for very low pay.  Nearly two weeks later, sanitation workers decided they had enough.  On February 11th, 1968, 1,300 Memphis sanitation workers walked off the job in protest of the unfair treatment that lasted over a decade.

During the workers’ strike, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. flew out to Memphis on two accounts in support of the sanitation workers. On March 18th, King held a rally and spoke before a crowd of 25,000 supporters. King made a second visit on April 3rd, to preach to a crowd of thousands “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”, a speech calling on African Americans to stand together in support of the sanitation workers with nonviolent protest. A day after his final speech in Memphis, King was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel.

Today, sanitation workers continue to fight for safe work conditions. 50 years after sanitation workers wore picket signs demanding recognition that, “I AM A MAN”, the job of a sanitation worker has remained highly dangerous. Labor unions have persistently worked with sanitation workers for successfully adopting safer workplace practices, but safety remains to be a concerning priority. Unions are the driving force for safer work conditions, and are determined to relentlessly fight for job protections and respect for their lives.