Gutting the union Dr. King died to establish

    With the City of Memphis facing a large budget deficit, City Council members are considering all kinds of proposals to generate more revenue or cut expenses.
    One proposal that is sending chills down the backs of workers rights and civil rights activists comes from Councilman Kemp Conrad. In recent budget hearings, he has repeatedly brought up the idea of privatizing the City's entire sanitation department.

    These are the same workers who spent three months on strike in 1968 to win the right to a union - the workers who Dr. King died supporting.
    It isn't even clear if privatization would save the City money, since contractors would need to make a profit. What is clear is that long-time sanitation workers would be jobless. The companies that replace them will likely oppose workers having a union, pay low wages, and offer workers few benefits.
    Please join the hard-working people who keep our City running in rallying to stop privatization and severe job cuts:

Rally with City workers to stop privatization and cuts

Tuesday, June 7th

2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
CORRECTION: Rally starts at 3:00 p.m.

in front of City Hall, 125 N. Main St.

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What inspires you to seek justice?

   The four of us who are privileged to work at Workers Interfaith Network all share something in common. And it's something that I bet we share in common with you: a passion for seeking justice.

   As I've gotten to know my co-workers better over the years, I've been continually inspired by their stories of what brings them to this work. What makes them get up every day and do the difficult work of organizing?

  Then I thought, why haven't I shared these stories with you? I hope they will inspire you to continue devoting yourself to the work of justice. And perhaps they will inspire you to share your own story!

   So today, I'll start by sharing some of James Luvene's story. James has worked part-time at WIN since 2005, building relationships with congregations and fundraising. He became connected with WIN while completing his Master of Divinity degree at Memphis Theological Seminary, where's he now completing his Doctorate of Ministry.

   What inspires James to seek justice? James tell this story best himself in the video below. His mother and father's experiences as custodial workers still have a profound impact on him today. When he shared this story about his mother's brave act on the day of Dr. King's assassination, I knew more people needed to hear it:



  What James forgot to mention is that his parents had 13 children to support when she quit her job.
 
  Faith and social justice: A United Methodist, James points to his church's strong statements for justice in its Social Principles. "For me, I really believe deep in my heart that it's almost impossible for me to say I'm a Christian and not be involved in social justice. It's what Jesus lived out every day; it's what Jesus taught every day, and it's what the Bible teaches," says James.

   The impact you make as a WIN member: When I asked James what the most important experience he's had on the WIN staff, he pointed back to an article that ran in The Commercial Appeal after your hard fight to win a living wage ordinance with the City of Memphis. The article featured a City worker who received a raise because of the living wage ordinance. She shared that she would now be able to buy her children's back to school clothes because of her raise. "That's what this work is all about," James says. "Making sure people who are working every day are treated with dignity in their work."

   James' dream for WIN: James is concerned about the growing emphasis on the prosperity gospel in many churches today. "As an African-American, I'm very concerned that there seems to be this pulling away from the works of justice," James says. "One of my dreams is for WIN to help the majority of churches in Memphis re-connect with their calling to the work of justice. We need to remember that Dr. King died in Memphis. But we also need to remember why he was in Memphis: to stand up with the sanitation workers."

   Share your story: So now you know a little of the journey that brings James to organize with you at Workers Interfaith Network. I want to hear your story too! Tell us what beliefs, people, and experiences inspire you to seek justice. Just share in the comments section below, or post on the WIN Facebook page.

Lessons from the Sanitation Strike - 42 Years Later

April 4th marks the 42nd anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's assasination in Memphis while supporting the Memphis sanitation workers' strike. The incredible sacrifice that Dr. King made with his life, that workers made with their livelihoods, and that community supporters made with their money, time, and reputations offer us many lessons today in the fight for social justice:

1) Workers who have been pushed to the limit will eventually push back. Some might have thought that the sanitation workers were so oppressed and had so few options for work that they wouldn't dare to form a union. In fact, strike leader T.O. Jones had tried unsuccessfully several times to organize his co-workers before the 1968 strike. But the deaths of workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker, crushed to death by compactors in their sanitation truck on February 1st, caused 1300 sanitation workers to walk off the job ten days later. Workers had had enough, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) were soon scrambling to follow the workers' lead, as were community supporters. The sanitation workers remind us that we should never write off a group of workers as too afraid, too poor, or too oppressed to stand up for their rights.

2) Workers must take the lead, but they can't do it alone. Without the thousands of Black clergy and laity, civil rights activists both local and national, and the small numbers of white people of faith who supported the strike, workers would have been hard pressed to win the strike. Faith and community leaders organized collections that kept sanitation workers from losing their homes while surviving on strike pay, and that filled pickets lines and mass marches that forced the City to eventually recognize the union. Listen to these individual stories from NPR's StoryCorps to get a picture of how the African-American community came together to support the sanitation workers. Workers today make often heroic struggles to win union representation, fair wages, and decent treatment. Having allies in the community who will stand with them often means the difference between a victory or a loss in these struggles.

3) In the words of Dr. King, "Nothing worthwhile is gained without sacrifice." Many of his close allies urged Dr. King not to get involved with the Memphis strike, considering it a distraction from more traditional civil rights work. Workers faced tremendous pressure to go back on the job as the strike dragged on for more than two months. Courageous civil rights leaders, clergy, and community leaders who spoke out were mocked and threatened by sources ranging from the media to the Mayor. Yet without the sacrifice of all these people, the sanitation strke wouldn't have been won. Today, all city and county workers who have union representation in Memphis can thank the sanitation workers and those who stood with them.

Watch the beginning of At the River I Stand, a documentary of the sanitation workers' strike.