4-4-16 A Day of Mourning in 2:00

[Omaha Steve]

I am sorry I didn't post this on the 4th.

I am a retired AFSCME member. The "I am a Man" strike is very special to me. A few years ago I was asked to speak at the Veteran's Home MLK Day ceremony.

This is the strike that coined the term "shotgun negotiations." Mayor Henry Loeb - a shotgun beneath his desk - greeted about 300 black and white ministers in his office Friday, April 5, shaking hands with Rev. Joseph P. Toney while Father Nicholas L. Vieron (behind the clasped hands) looked on. The ministers - who represented congregations in wealthy East Memphis and the impoverished inner city - were impressed with Loeb's cordiality in the face of such a potentially uncomfortable confrontation. The ministers were calling for an end to the sanitation strike and union recognition for the workers. But Loeb gave no indication he was willing to compromise with the strikers. (There is a famous photo of the shotgun behind the desk. I'm on pain killers for oral surgery I had today and can't seem to find it)

When I got to the part about a young black man on strike for a better respectable living I was in tears. I had trouble getting through the story.

In an all too familiar tone a voice behind this young man yelled "hey union boy!" He turned around and was doused with gasoline and set on fire. Two known KKK members laughed as others came to his aid. That event would be be a factor in Dr Rev King returning to Memphis.

In his last speech: I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you.

Great info here: http://www.afscme.org/union/history/mlk

2:00 minute post below.

OS

http://laborhistoryin2.podbean.com/e/april-4-a-day-of-mourning/




April 4, 2016
On this day in Labor History the year was 1968. That was the day that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered by an assassin’s bullet in Memphis, Tennessee. He was in Memphis to support AFSCME sanitation workers, who were out on strike fighting for better wages and working conditions.