Английская Википедия:1977 Atlanta sanitation strike

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The Atlanta sanitation strike of 1977 was a labor strike involving sanitation workers in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Precipitated by wildcat action in January, on March 28 the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) agreed to strike. The main goal of the strike was a $0.50 hourly wage increase. With support from many community groups, Atlanta mayor Maynard Jackson resisted the strike, firing over 900 striking workers on April 1. By April 16, many of the striking workers had returned to their previous jobs, and by April 29 the strike was officially ended.

Background

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, several major cities in the United States, and in particular the Southeastern United States, experienced strikes by sanitation workers, including the Memphis sanitation strike and the St. Petersburg sanitation strike, both in 1968. Many of these labor disputes were also seen as a part of the larger civil rights movement, as many of those striking tended to be African Americans, and the fundamental issue behind many of the strikes was income inequality and difference in working conditions between the African Americans and white American workers.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

In 1970, sanitation workers in Atlanta went on strike, demanding an increase in pay.Шаблон:Sfn Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell opposed the strike and fired the workers, replacing them with prison labor.Шаблон:Sfn However, Maynard Jackson, then Vice Mayor of Atlanta, steadfastly supported the strikers, calling their wages "a disgrace before God".Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Ultimately, Jackson's support contributed to the mayor rehiring the fired workers and renegotiating a pay increase for the workers.Шаблон:Sfn Several years later, in 1973, Jackson was elected the first black mayor of Atlanta, in an election where he had received endorsements from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).Шаблон:Sfn

By the mid-1970s, sanitation workers in Atlanta had become more vocal about a pay increase. In July 1976, AFSCME Local 1644 had voted to go on strike, but this was called off after Jackson instituted a temporary $200 annual raise and promised to find additional funds for the workers.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn However, by 1977, the situation had worsened. In January, a wildcat walkout occurred.Шаблон:Sfn Workers cited an agreement that said they didn't have to work in temperatures below 25 degrees, but many of those who walked out were docked half their pay.Шаблон:Sfn Additionally, workers had been calling for a $0.50 hourly raise that would have increased their annual earnings about $1,000 to a yearly income of $7,000.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Presented to the city on March 10, the demand for a raise was, according to Jackson, "a package equating almost $10 million" that the city could not afford. The AFSCME refuted this by pointing out how the city government had a $11.4 million dollar contingency fund and had a $9.3 million surplus carried over from 1976.Шаблон:Sfn As an agreement could not be reached, a strike appeared eminent. On March 27, the AFSCME ran advertisements in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Star criticizing Jackson and accusing him of cronyism. The next day, members of AFSCME Local 1644 voted to go on strike.Шаблон:Sfn

Course of the strike

On March 28, the approximately 1,300 members of AFSCME Local 1644 went on strike, demanding a $0.50 hourly raise.Шаблон:Sfn The next day, Jackson announced that strikers not returning to work within 48 hours would be permanently replaced.Шаблон:Sfn On April 1, following through on this, he fired 900 workers and began immediately hiring replacement workers.Шаблон:Sfn Over the course of the strike, the strikers picketed, dumped garbage on the grounds of Atlanta City Hall, and, during a nationally televised Atlanta Braves game at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, unfurled a large banner that said "Maynard's Word is Garbage".Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The strikers also had the support of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, which criticized Jackson for using "black workers as political pawns".Шаблон:Sfn Additionally, James Farmer, cofounder of the Congress of Racial Equality, and civil rights activist James Lawson supported the strike.Шаблон:Sfn

Despite this, Jackson had broad support in his opposition to the strikers. The Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the NAACP, and the Urban League all supported Jackson.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Additionally, Martin Luther King Sr., father of deceased civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., supported Jackson.Шаблон:Sfn On April 4, the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., two memorials were dedicated to King in the city, with both dedications featuring demonstrations regarding the strike. At one, protestors drew parallels between their own movement and the Memphis sanitation strike that King had been protesting in favor of when he was assassinated. At the other, King Sr. defended Jackson's actions against the strikers and recommended that the mayor "fire the hell out of them".Шаблон:Sfn Coincidentally, the Memphis sanitation strike from nine years earlier was conducted by that city's chapter of the AFSCME.Шаблон:Sfn Again drawing parallels to the Memphis sanitation strike, Lawson, who had participated in the strike, compared Jackson's actions to those of Memphis mayor Henry Loeb.Шаблон:Sfn

The strikes divided the opinion of Atlanta's black population, as it essentially pitted the city's first African American mayor against a group of workers who were predominately African American. The Atlanta Daily World, Atlanta's major African American newspaper, was sympathetic to Jackson in its editorials.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Expressing the sentiment of the middle and upper class black citizenry, they questioned the AFSCME's rationale for attacking a black mayor during a time when African Americans were beginning to gain more political power in the region.Шаблон:Sfn In another editorial, they asked, “Why stir up a virtual racial civil strike, when we are striving to get a black elected to Congress?”Шаблон:Sfn

Two weeks after the firings of April 1, trash pick-up was back to 79% of its pre-strike level.Шаблон:Sfn By April 16, 737 new employees had been hired to replace the strikers, and 459 of those who had been fired reapplied for their previous jobs at lower pay under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn That day, The New York Times reported that the mayor had "crushed" the strike.Шаблон:Sfn The union acquiesced on April 29, officially ending the strike.Шаблон:Sfn By the end of the year, many of the workers involved in the strike had returned to their original job.Шаблон:Sfn

Aftermath and legacy

Labor historian Joseph A. McCartin, writing about the strike in the academic journal Labor many years later, argued that Jackson's actions during the strike, including his mass firing and replacing of the workers, set a precedent for striker replacement that was later seen in the 1981 air traffic controllers strike. He argues that Jackson "had made it permissible to use a tactic that AFSCME had once associated only with white 'southern-type city officials'".Шаблон:Sfn McCartin also alleges that Jackson's staunch opposition to the strike was a way of appeasing white civic and business communities, helping with his chances in that year's mayoral election, which Jackson won with 63.6% of the vote.Шаблон:Sfn

See also

• 2018 Atlanta sanitation strike
• St. Petersburg sanitation strike of 1968

Bibliography

• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite news
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite web
• Шаблон:Cite news
• Шаблон:Cite book

Further reading

• McCartin, Joseph A. (Fall 2005). " "Fire the Hell out of Them": Sanitation Workers' Struggles and the Normalization of the Striker Replacement Strategy in the 1970s". Labor. Duke University Press. 2 (3): 67–92.