Journal Facts

Journal
Journal of Collective Negotiations
ISSN
2167-7816 (print) 2167-7824 (electronic)
Volume
22
Issue
2
Date
6/1/1993

Article Facts

Title
THE MEMPHIS SANITATION WORKERS STRIKE OF 1968
DOI
10.2190/H7KF-FK5U-AL3Y-JF06
Author
BRIAN HESHIZER
Online Date
05/09/2002

Article Links

THE MEMPHIS SANITATION WORKERS STRIKE OF 1968

BRIAN HESHIZER

DOI: 10.2190/H7KF-FK5U-AL3Y-JF06

Abstract

The 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike involved both public sector labor and civil rights issues which were joined to form a protest movement that encompassed the city's black community. The legal framework and economic, social, and political conditions in Memphis strongly influenced the strike's course. Contrasting personalities, the city's inexperience with labor relations, and misjudgments by the union added to the difficulties encountered in trying to settle the dispute. The lack of a recognized process to contain the dispute to a labor issue contributed to the broadening of the conflict to other constituencies. The strike was finally resolved because of local and national pressures on the parties resulting from the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.

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