Honoring The 50th Anniversary of The Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In 1968, 1300 sanitation workers said enough was enough. They walked off the job and onto the picket line after an electrical malfunction in a garbage truck resulted in the crushing death of two Memphis sanitation workers.

Long-simmering resentment over low wages, poor working conditions, racial discrimination, and past failed attempts to organize pushed these men into taking action. These brave workers challenged the status quo. They were tired of being treated as second-class citizens just because of the color of their skin. Those who collected the garbage were all black; their supervisors predominately white. Though these workers may have violated the law, they stood up for what was righteous.

During the strike, one of my heroes, Reverend James Lawson, told the striking workers, “At the heart of racism is the idea that a man is not a man, that a person is not a person. You are human beings. You are men.” It’s not a coincidence that Memphis was the last place that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood alive in his fight for justice. King’s death wasn’t just an assassination; it was a crucifixion meant to be a public display to put fear in the minds of those resisting the establishment.

Without a doubt, this is the most historic strike in American labor history. It still inspires workers today to continue building upon the legacy of the Memphis strikers and their commitment to fight against racial and economic injustice. These brave men were not seeking fame; they were merely standing up for what they knew was right. Their courage continues to inspire Teamsters to keep up the fight as we continue to organize sanitation workers across the country.

We are still fighting for equality today just like in 1968. There are still sanitation workers who are discriminated against because of their race or immigration status. Our Union must be the catalyst to push forward to defeat hatred and bigotry. The Sanitation Industry is still the fifth most dangerous job in the U.S. It is sad to admit this, but many sanitation workers in the wealthiest country in the world are still paid poverty wages. The fight to enter the middle class seems hopeless at times to these workers.

Thanks to the example set for us by our brothers in Memphis, there has been much success in improving the lives of sanitation workers across the country, including California, Ohio, and Tennessee. We’ve taken what we’ve learned in Memphis into existing sanitation yards where minorities are still oppressed. Throughout the Teamsters, we have built coalitions regardless of color, race or creed.

As Director of the Teamsters National Waste and Recycling Division, I’ve made it my mission to build coalitions and expand the boundaries of the labor movement no matter of one’s ethnicity whenever and wherever possible. As Teamsters, we must bring people together. I believe in my heart that we can achieve a better America by being the example to eliminating prejudice and believing in equality.

We are living in challenging times. We are faced with a Federal Government that is pushing a clear agenda of hate. They have targeted immigrants and people of color, calling them criminals and rapists. They want to build a wall to divide us. They talk about banning people, just because of the way they pray. They are also seeking to destroy the ability of working people to come together by organizing to build a Union. There is no doubt; we are in the fight of our lives. If this agenda wins, we risk losing decades of progress for minority workers by people who want to take our country back to a time where you and I may not have been allowed entrance because of the color of our skin. Where we were restricted from jobs that we were qualified for.

Let me emphasize something; To defeat the forces of hate, we must come together and build bridges, not walls. That means finding a common denominator and understand that we must fight together against injustices. This means supporting all Members regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin or sexual orientation.

How will Dr. King’s dream continue? What would make Dr. King proud of the Teamsters as a Union? He would expect us to stand up without fearing the consequence; to have the courage to be contrary. We must resist! We must support the DREAMERs and their fight to stay in this country. We must fight for TPS so that our Salvadoran and Haitian brothers and sisters will stop being persecuted. We must stand with every immigrant that is being persecuted and whose families are being separated because of deportation.

We are living in dark times, but as Dr. King said, “Only in dark times can you see the stars.” I can’t speak for every Teamster in every city and every state, but I can say that your Brothers and Sisters from my Local, Teamsters Local 396 will always stand within battle if necessary just like the people of Memphis did 50 years ago. I commit and promise that I will work hard to educate our Teamster members to understand our struggle. That prejudice and discrimination have no place in the Teamsters Union and that the Teamsters will be the example of equality and brother and sisterhood.

Teamsters throughout the country stood in solidarity with our Brothers and Sisters from Local 667 so to achieve the best Teamster contract by sanitation Members here in Memphis. Working in unison with the aid of the International Union, Local 667 brought together community, faith, and labor leaders, and were able to succeed in putting hard working Local 667 Teamster Members on a path towards a better life.

Teamsters Local 396 represents UPS and Sanitation workers in Southern California. The Local Union also serves Members in other miscellaneous industries such as logistics, recycling and feed delivery services.