The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at Mason Temple, Memphis, Tenn. on April 3, 1968.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. fought tirelessly to advance civil rights, human rights and economic and social justice.
As we honor Dr. King’s life and accomplishments, we also remember his work on behalf of the labor movement.
King often connected the ongoing struggles for workers’ rights with civil rights, noting that labor rights are key to helping working people find prosperity.
“The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress,” King told union members at the Illinois AFL-CIO State Convention in October 1965. “Out of its bold struggles, economic and social reform gave birth to unemployment insurance, old age pensions, government relief for the destitute, and above all new wage levels that meant not mere survival, but a tolerable life. The captains of industry did not lead this transformation; they resisted it until they were overcome.”
In early 1968, King visited Memphis, Tenn. on several occasions to support striking sanitation workers who were seeking to form a union with AFSCME as part of their fight for dignity on the job.
On April 3, 1968, the night before his assassination, King delivered his famous address, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” to those sanitation workers.
Weeks after King’s death, AFSCME reached a deal with the City of Memphis that not only ended the strike, but recognized their union, today known as AFSCME Local 1733.
More than 50 years after King’s death, his fight for civil, labor, economic and human rights is as relevant as ever.
As we celebrate his birthday, we join our allies in labor, faith, civil rights and human rights groups in the ongoing fight to realize his dream of equality and dignity, including an end to all discrimination.
