Carrying the Burden: Labor Rights and Civic Responsibilities in the Memphis Sanitation Strike
Legacy of the Movement
Immediate Outcomes
On April 16, 1968 the strike concluded with significant victories: the city of Memphis agreed to increase wages, improve working conditions, and recognize the union, overall improving the lives of sanitation workers and strengthening the Civil Rights Movement.
“End of Strike Cheered”. Memphis World. April 20 1968: 1. Rhodes University. Web.
Seaman, Bernard. “Garbage Cartooon.” Cartoon. I AM A MAN. AFSCME Local 1733: Memphis, Tennessee Records, 1968. https://projects.lib.wayne.edu/iamaman/items/show/204.
Long-Term Impacts
The sanitation strike prompted many other labor organizations to stand up for worker’s rights like the 1978 Rocky Mountain sanitation strike in North Carolina. While also influencing long term policy changes at the federal level for public employees, like the Executive Order 11491 and Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). It strengthened the Civil Rights Movement, inspiring African Americans across the country through unity and the strive for equal treatment. Their actions served as a testament to the power of collective responsibility in the pursuit of human rights.
"Something is happening in Memphis, something is happening in our world.” Martin Luther King Jr.'s I've Been the Mountaintop speech, 1968
Modern Connections
The Memphis Sanitation Strike served as a precedent for many other labor movements. The Memphis Sanitation Strike served as a precedent for many other labor movements, such as the Fight for $15 campaign in 2012. Similarly, the BLM movement builds on the civil rights struggles presented in the Memphis sanitation strike by addressing systemic racial injustice and advocating for the dignity, safety, and equality of Black lives, while putting emphasis on the responsibilities of institutions and individuals to ensure equity in modern society.
Olson, Scott. Black Lives Matter Protesters Join Living Wage Activists For Rally And March In Chicago. April 4, 2018. Photograph. Getty Images. https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/demonstrators-protest-for-higher-wages-and-better-working-news-photo/664622266?adppopup=true.
Sullivan, Justin. Activists Demonstrate For Raising The Minimum Wage To 15 Dollars. 2018. Photograph. 211 Memphis Sanitation Stock Photos and High-Res Pictures. https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/fast-food-workers-and-union-members-carry-signs-as-they-news-photo/917517252?adppopup=true.