| Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike Began: February 12, 1968 Ended: April 11, 1968 |
When asked to name the biggest mistake Memphis has ever made, local historians agree it was not settling the Sanitation strike sooner.
On January 1, 1968 Henry Loeb III was sworn in to the office of Mayor. The mayor would be asked to take on new challenges because city government was restructuring. Until 1968 the city government was run by a mayor and a group of commissioners. Now Memphis would elect its mayor and a city council. On paper the relationship between the mayor and the city council was clear enough. In practice there was a lot to be worked out about authority, responsibility and process. As the new mayor and council members had just begun to work through the new roles unrest was brewing among the city's sanitation workers.
There had been long-standing unrest among the sanitation workers. Workers were often sent home without pay or worked off the clock while white workers in the same department continued to work and be paid. The smells were unbearable. Workers would change clothes on their porches rather than bring the smell into their homes. They were referred to as "garbage men". In 1963 one worker, T. O. Jones and 32 other sanitation workers walked out of work in protest of harsh conditions and low pay. The workers were fired (most got their jobs back later), but T. O. Jones did not go back. Jones made some phone calls at the state and local level and was soon able to establish AFSCME ( American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees ) Local 1733. Five years later the union still did not have a lot of teeth. There was no automated method of collecting dues and no recognition of the union by the city government. Given the tenuous nature of the union many sanitation workers were either afraid to pay dues or thought it would do no good.
On January 30, 1968 21 workers were sent home without pay because of the rain. When the rain let up an hour later white employees were still on the clock and worked all day for pay. This caused a furor among the men and T. O. Jones took up the issue with the new Directory of Public Works, Charles Blackburn. Blackburn later stated that the established procedure (though not written) was for the worker to come to him along with his union steward. Nevertheless there was a verbal agreement between the two men that the department would try to find full time work for the men even on rainy days. This agreement was to be posted officially within a week.
Two days later, the first day of February two sanitation employees Echol Cole 35 and Robert Walker 29 were crushed to death by a malfunctioning garbage truck. They were inside the truck trying to escape a driving rain long enough to eat their lunch. Work rules in the Sanitation Department called for workers to clock out when it rained. Meanwhile the predominantly white supervisory and administrative staffs were allowed to continue working for pay. Both of the dead men were relatively new to the job. Neither man had a life insurance policy.
Safety had been an issue before and now it was officially added to the union's list of demands. That list was:
1. Union recognition and a contract with the city.
2. Effective grievance procedures
3. Union payroll deduction, or dues check-off.
4. Merit promotion -- without regard to race.
5. Equal treatment in the retirement system.
6. Payment of overtime.
7. Decent wages.