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Machinists Union members are invited to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Wednesday, April 4 in Memphis.
Dr. King, an ardent supporter of labor rights, spoke out on behalf of striking Memphis sanitation workers from AFSCME Local 1733 despite the threats to his life. He died standing up for us; now it is time for us to stand up for his vision of labor rights, economic rights, human rights, and civil rights.
WATCH: Saluting the Memphis Sanitation Strikers
AFSCME will hold a series of events including a rally and I AM 2018 March for Justice on April 4. The rally kicks off at the AFSCME Local 1733 office at 8 a.m. and ends with a march to the Mason Temple, where Dr. King delivered his historic “Mountaintop” speech.
I AM 2018 isn’t just a reflection on the past; it’s a present-day call to fight for labor rights, economic rights, human rights, and civil rights.
If you plan on attending, please call Rhonda Rogers, Director, Women’s, Human Rights, Young Workers, & Community Services at 301-967-4747 or rrogers@iamaw.org
“In the days to come, organized labor will increase its importance in the destinies of Negroes. Automation is imperceptibly but inexorably producing dislocations, skimming off unskilled labor from the industrial force. The displaced are flowing into proliferating service occupations. These enterprises are traditionally unorganized and provide low wage scales with longer hours. The Negroes pressed into these services need union protection, and the union movement needs their membership to maintain its relative strength in the whole society.”
