MLK JR. REMEMBERED; GAVE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE FOR WORKING PEOPLE

In April 1968, King traveled to Memphis, Tenn. to help support striking sanitation workers. On April 3, he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel with (from left to right) Hosea Williams, Jesse Jackson and Ralph Abernathy. That same day he gave his famous 'I've Been to the Mountaintop' speech. File photo / AJC

Rochester, N.Y.--  The struggles of workers for union rights are often considered to be of no great significance in comparison to other landmark milestones in 20th century American history. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. knew better. He also knew that the right to unionize was one of the most important components to economic and social justice. Virtually his last act was in support of that right, for he was killed by an assassin's bullet on April 4, 1968, as he was preparing to lead strikers in yet another demonstration.

Those marchers were striking union members, AFSCME sanitation workers demanding that the city of Memphis formally recognize their union and thus grant them a voice in determining their wages, hours and working conditions.


The march led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went forward March 28. Most of the 5,000-plus who participated were described as working-class, church-going people who donned their Sunday best because they believed in the righteousness of the strike and they believed in King. The "I Am A Man" signs distributed that day came to symbolize the strike effort. Photo by Richard L Copley.

 Hundreds of supporters joined their daily marches. King had been with the 1,300 strikers from the very beginning of their bitter struggle. He had come to Memphis to support them despite threats that he might be killed if he did.

There are, of course, many other reasons for honoring him on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 17, but we shouldn't forget that one of the most important reasons, one that's often overlooked, is Dr. King's championing of the cause of the Memphis strikers and others who sought union recognition.

King's assassination brought to bear tremendous public pressure on behalf of the strikers in Memphis. President Lyndon Johnson sent in federal troops to protect them and assigned the undersecretary of labor to mediate the dispute. Within two weeks, an agreement was reached that granted strikers the union rights they had demanded. If only King were there to bear witness to it.

For the first time, the workers' own representatives could sit across the table from their bosses and negotiate and air their grievances and demands for remedies. They got their first paid holidays and vacations, pensions and health care benefits. They got the right to overtime pay and raises of 38 percent on wages that had been so low - about $1.70 an hour - that 40 percent of the workers had qualified for welfare payments.

They got an agreement that promotions would be made strictly on the basis of seniority, without regard to race, assuring the promotion of African-Americans to supervisory positions for the first time. The strikers, in fact, got just about everything they had sought during the 65-day walkout.

Bill Lucy at Eugene V. Debs event
 in Chicago in 1984. (photo: Blackpast.org)

William Lucy, secretary-treasurer of the strikers' union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and CSEA's parent union, said Dr. King would bring tears to the eyes of strikers and their families just by walking into a meeting.  He added, "You could feel the surge of confidence he inspired in the movement in Memphis."

The strikers' victory in Memphis led quickly to union recognition victories by black and white public employees throughout the South and elsewhere. They had passed a major test of union endurance against very heavy odds, prompting a great upsurge of union organizing and militancy among government workers.

As Lucy put it, it was "a movement for dignity, for equity and for access to power and responsibility for all Americans."

Anyone doubting that the labor and civil rights movements share those goals need only heed the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.:

"Our needs are identical with labor's needs: Decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old-age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children, and respect in the community.... The coalition that can have the greatest impact in the struggle for human dignity here in America is that of the blacks and forces of labor, because their fortunes are so closely intertwined."