The city of Memphis has a rich history in the great struggle for working people’s rights. It started with a group of workers in 1968. These men worked in deplorable conditions each day. Through intense heat, freezing days, and constant rain, they performed a duty that most would not do — collecting trash. When two workers attempting to get out of the rain on their route were crushed to death in the truck’s compactor, these workers said, “Enough is enough.” These men had a motto, “I AM A MAN.”
When Mayor Henry Loeb refused to recognize their efforts to form a union, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King traveled to Memphis to show his support. Dr. King marched with these men in a peaceful protest to persuade the city of Memphis to concede to their wishes to form a union. The next day, a man gave his life for these workers.
Everyone in Memphis knows the rest of the story. Mayor Loeb reluctantly agreed to recognize the workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively after that fatal day, April 4, 1968. This powerful action by those workers and the tragic death of Dr. King was the beginning of public employees being granted the right to form unions in Memphis.
In the following years, police, firefighters, other city workers, and employees of MLGW all formed unions. While the relationship between the city employees and their unions began because a man gave his life for workers, that sacrifice has brought tens of thousands of Memphians a middle-class life in the intervening half century.
Today, the city of Memphis and the unions have agreements that spell out the terms and working conditions for each party. These agreements ensure the city holds up its obligations, and likewise the workers honor their commitments. Without these agreements, either side can make their own rules — rules that do not guarantee a stable government or a stable workforce. In today’s environment, every employer is competing for a limited workforce. And having terms and conditions of employment that guarantee wages, benefits, and working conditions is a competitive advantage when recruiting competent and dedicated workers.
Workers from all 13 city unions gathered last week at City Hall to press Mayor Paul Young and members of the council to drop misguided plans to nullify agreements that have been continuously protecting both sides for more than 50 years. These workers deserve to be recognized for the work they do every day. They deserve to be recognized by guaranteeing their rights and working conditions so they can continue to efficiently perform their jobs for the citizens of Memphis. It is past due for everyone involved to look back on history, to not ignore the pain and suffering this city went through to get here today, and to continue to work toward better labor-management relations for the future.
Let us never forget that a great man gave his life for workers in Memphis to have a voice — a voice in their futures. That legacy is at risk in today’s fight, and I encourage Mayor Young and others in city government to act to protect good jobs, honor their commitments, and embrace this city’s rich history of organized labor.
Brent E. Hall is a former MLGW lineman and the International Vice President for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Tenth District. The IBEW Tenth District represents over 25,000 workers in Tennessee, Arkansas, and the Carolinas, including IBEW members at MLGW and the City of Memphis.