III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 404 

Recognizing the coordinated struggle of workers on the 50th anniversary 

of the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers strike to voice their grievances 

and reach a collective agreement for rights in the workplace. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2018 

Mr. ALEXANDER (for himself, Mr. CORKER, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. JONES) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the coordinated struggle of workers on the 50th 

anniversary of the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers 

strike to voice their grievances and reach a collective 

agreement for rights in the workplace. 

Whereas, in 1968, 1,300 African-American sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, fought for collective bargaining rights and equality in the workplace; 

Whereas, in the struggle for rights of workers, the American 

Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 

(referred to in this preamble as ‘‘AFSCME’’) integrated 

the labor movement and the civil rights movement in a 

demand for basic human rights and respect for all men 

and women; 


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•SRES 404 IS 

Whereas Black employees doing most of the low-wage work 

in Memphis had almost no health care, pensions, or vacation, worked in deplorable conditions, and were shown 

disrespect by White supervisors; 

Whereas 40 percent of the workers qualified for welfare in 

order to supplement their low salaries and were denied 

the opportunity to improve their working conditions by 

Memphis Mayor Henry Loeb and the City Council; 

Whereas, on January 31, 1968, 22 Black sewer workers who 

reported for work were sent home when it began raining, 

losing pay for that day, while White workers were not 

sent home and received full pay for that day; 

Whereas, the following day, February 1, 1968, sanitation 

workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker sought refuge 

from a downpour in the hamper of a garbage truck amid 

putrefying garbage and were crushed to death when the 

compactor malfunctioned; 

Whereas, on February 12, 1968, Memphis sanitation and 

public employees went on strike after attempting lastminute negotiations with Mayor Loeb and the city on the 

terms of their employment, demanding that the city recognize the union and provide a pay increase to $2.35 an 

hour from an average of $1.70, as well as overtime pay, 

and promotions based on merit irrespective of race; 

Whereas, in response to the demands of the workers, Mayor 

Loeb, on February 13, 1968, threatened to hire replacements unless workers returned to work; 

Whereas, on February 18, 1968, the President of AFSCME, 

Jerry Wurf, arrived in Memphis and negotiations began 

in the basement of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church with 

Rabbi James A. Wax of Temple Israel representing the 


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•SRES 404 IS 

Memphis Ministerial Association, mediating between the 

city and striking workers, assisted by Local 1733 President T.O. Jones and AFSCME Director of Legislative 

and Community Affairs William Lucy; 

Whereas, after an all-night vigil outside City Hall on February 19 through 20, 1968, the National Association for 

the Advancement of Colored People and union workers 

called for a boycott of downtown businesses; 

Whereas, on February 23, 1968, 1,500 strikers and supporters organized a march to the Memphis City Hall, 

where, 11 days after the initial strike, the City Council 

refused to recognize the union; 

Whereas, in the following days, 500 White labor union members joined members of the clergy and sanitation workers 

in a march downtown, 116 strikers and supporters were 

arrested during a peaceful demonstration, and hundreds 

of high school students joined in another march led or 

supported by members of the clergy, including Rabbi 

Wax, the Reverend Frank McRae of St. John’s United 

Methodist Church, Father Nicholas Vieron of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, and Dean William 

Dimmick of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church; 

Whereas, on March 4, 1968, a proposal by State Senator 

Frank White to create a State mediation board to resolve 

the stalemate was rejected by Mayor Loeb; 

Whereas, on March 5, 1968, the Memphis Ministerial Association announced that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, 

Jr., would be traveling to Memphis on behalf of striking 

workers; 

Whereas, on March 7, 1968, the City Council voted to reject 

union dues checkoff for sanitation workers; 


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Whereas, throughout March 1968, national civil rights leaders, including Roy Wilkins, Bayard Rustin, Ralph Abernathy, James Bevel, Andrew Young, and Jesse Jackson, 

among others, came to Memphis to rally the strikers; 

Whereas, on March 28, 1968, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, 

Jr., and the Reverend James Lawson of Centenary Methodist Church led a march from the gathering spot for 

sanitation workers at Clayborn Temple and on to Beale 

Street, which was marred by window-breaking and disintegrated into a riot as police responded with tear gas 

and gunfire; 

Whereas, also on March 28, 1968, 16-year-old Larry Payne 

was shot to death by a Memphis police officer, police arrested 280 mostly Black demonstrators, and the State 

legislature authorized a 7:00 p.m. curfew that was enforced by 4,000 members of the National Guard moving 

into Memphis; 

Whereas in response to the death of Larry Payne, Rev. Dr. 

Martin Luther King, Jr., called the mother of Larry 

Payne, Lizzie, offering consolation, and vowed to visit 

Lizzie on the return of Dr. King to Memphis; 

Whereas, also on March 28, 1968, and in response to the 

promise of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to return 

to Memphis to lead a march based on the principles of 

nonviolence, the city obtained a temporary restraining 

order in Federal court forbidding such a march; 

Whereas in response to the temporary restraining order, 

AFSCME General Counsel Mel Wulf asked the firm of 

Burch, Porter and Johnson and attorneys Lucius E. 

Burch, Jr., David Caywood, Charles Newman, and W.J. 


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Michael Cody to work on lifting the order to allow the 

march to proceed; 

Whereas Louis Lucas and Walter Bailey of the Ratner and 

Sugarmon firm were deeply involved in representing Rev. 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and striking workers for 

the duration of the labor dispute; 

Whereas, on April 3, 1968, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, 

Jr., addressed a rally of 10,000 Black workers and residents, members of the clergy, White liberals, and union 

members at Mason Temple, the Memphis headquarters of 

the Church of God in Christ, for what would be the last 

speech of Dr. King, forever known for the lines ‘‘I’ve 

been to the mountaintop’’ and ‘‘I may not get there with 

you but I want you to know tonight that we as a people 

will get to the Promised Land’’, linking the civil rights 

and labor movements and foreshadowing his fate; 

Whereas, on April 4, 1968, a daylong hearing on the injunction by the city resulted in an order from United States 

District Court Judge Bailey Brown in the late afternoon 

allowing the march, with some restrictions, to go forward 

on April 5, 1968; 

Whereas, on April 4, 1968, the day after his rallying cry for 

compromise, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated by a sniper on the balcony outside of his Lorraine Motel room in Memphis; 

Whereas, on April 4, 1968, Memphis and cities across the 

United States erupted in violent protests and rioting; 

Whereas, on April 5, 1968, Rabbi James A. Wax led a march 

from St. Mary’s Episcopal Church to City Hall and confronted Mayor Henry Loeb with the people of the United 

States watching on all 3 networks, telling Mayor Loeb 


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‘‘There are laws far greater than the laws of Memphis 

and Tennessee, and these are the laws of God’’; 

Whereas, on April 8, 1968, an estimated 42,000 people, led 

by the wife of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta 

Scott King, and her children, peacefully marched in 

memory of Dr. King and in support of the requests of 

the union; 

Whereas, on April 16, 1968, AFSCME announced that a 14- 

month contract had been agreed to and accepted, and included union dues checkoff, a grievance procedure, and 

wage increases of 10 cents per hour in May and another 

5 cents per hour in September, ending the 3-month 

strike; 

Whereas, on April 29, 2011, the 1,300 sanitation worker 

strikers were inducted into the Labor Hall of Honor in 

the Department of Labor; and 

Whereas, today, the integration of the civil rights and labor 

movements remains a work in progress and requires our 

continued vigilance: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the 50th anniversary of the co3 ordinated struggle of workers during the 1968 Mem4 phis sanitation workers strike to voice their griev5 ances and reach a collective agreement for rights in 

6 the workplace; 

7 (2) honors the perseverance of the 1,300 mem8 bers of Local 1733 in urging social and economic 

9 equality in the workplace; 


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1 (3) honors the memory and inspiring contribu2 tion of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the ul3 timate resolution of the labor dispute; 

4 (4) recognizes the contributions of all those 

5 named and unnamed who participated in the fight 

6 for justice during the strike; and 

7 (5) recognizes there is work to be done to im8 prove both racial and labor relations. 

Æ 


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