Title: 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.
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
Recognizes the 50th anniversary of the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers strike.
Honors the perseverance of the members of Union Local 1733 and the contribution of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in resolving the labor dispute.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 720 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 720

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 30, 2018

Mr. Cohen (for himself, Ms. Adams, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Ms. Bass, 
Mr. Capuano, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, 
 Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Ms. Moore, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. 
 Pallone, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Rush, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Duncan of 
Tennessee, Mrs. Black, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Beyer, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. 
McGovern, Ms. Norton, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. 
 Richmond, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Lee, Mr. David Scott of 
 Georgia, Mrs. Beatty, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. 
    Cummings, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Khanna, Mr. 
 Norcross, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Fleischmann, Mr. McEachin, Ms. 
     Maxine Waters of California, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Mr. 
  DesJarlais, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Evans, Mr. Yarmuth, Ms. 
  Wilson of Florida, Mr. Hastings, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. Roe of 
  Tennessee, Mr. Kustoff of Tennessee, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Welch, Mr. 
    Raskin, Mr. Brown of Maryland, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. 
 Jeffries, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Ellison, Mrs. Demings, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. 
 Neal, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of 
 Texas, and Mr. Cleaver) submitted the following resolution; which was 
        referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               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 workers' rights, the American Federation of State, 
        County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) integrated the labor movement 
        and the civil rights movement in a demand for basic human rights and 
        respect for all men and women;
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 a day's pay, while White workers 
        were not sent home and received a full day's pay;
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 last-minute negotiations with Mayor Loeb and the 
        city on the terms of their employment, demanding that the city recognize 
        their union, and provide a pay increase to $2.35 an hour from an average 
        of $1.70, overtime pay, and promotions based on merit irrespective of 
        race;
Whereas in response to the workers' demands, 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 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 19-20, 1968, the 
        National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) 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;
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 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;
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 
        sanitation workers' gathering spot 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 p.m. curfew which was enforced 
        by 4,000 members of the National Guard moving into Memphis;
Whereas in response to Payne's death, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called 
        Payne's mother, Lizzie, offering consolation, and vowed to visit her on 
        his return to Memphis;
Whereas, also on March 28, 1968, and in response to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, 
        Jr.'s promise 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. Michael 
        Cody to work on lifting the injunction to allow the march to proceed;
Whereas Louis Lucas and Walter Bailey of the Ratner and Sugarmon firm were 
        deeply involved in representing King 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 his last speech, forever 
        known for the lines ``I have been to the mountain top'', 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 city's injunction resulted 
        in an order from United States District 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 country 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 
        Nation watching on all three networks, telling him ``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. King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, and her children, peacefully marched 
        in memory of Dr. King and in support of the union's requests;
Whereas, on April 16, 1968, AFSCME announced that a 14-month contract had been 
        agreed to and accepted, and included union dues check-off, a grievance 
        procedure, and wage increases of 10 cents an hour in May and another 5 
        cents in September, ending the 3-month strike;
Whereas, on April 29, 2011, the 1,300 sanitation worker strikers were inducted 
        into the Department of Labor's Labor Hall of Honor; 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
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the 50th anniversary of the coordinated 
        struggle of workers during the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers 
        strike to voice their grievances and reach a collective 
        agreement for rights in the workplace;
            (2) honors the perseverance of the 1,300 members of Local 
        1733 in urging social and economic equality in the workplace;
            (3) honors the memory and inspiring contribution of Rev. 
        Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the ultimate resolution of the 
        labor dispute;
            (4) recognizes the contributions of all those named and 
        unnamed who participated in the fight for justice during the 
        strike; and
            (5) recognizes there is work to be done to improve both 
        racial and labor relations.
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