On this day, 12 February 1968, the Memphis sanitation strike by 1300 African-American sanitation workers began in protest against mistreatment, discrimination, dangerous working conditions, and the recent deaths of two workers.
Martin Luther King Jr came to the city to support the strike. The following day he was murdered. But the workers held out and in April, the city caved to most of their demands.
This is our podcast episode about the strike wave in the US at this time: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/07/22/e8-the-vietnam-war-strike-wave/ https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1348293735355773/?type=3