Brotherhood in a Cause
King, Reuther took similar paths
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a great civil rights leader, but less known was his affinity for the labor movement, particularly his relationship with the UAW.
The fact that A. Phillip Randolph, organizer of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters union, was one of King’s closest advisors, kept King close to labor. And it is well known that King had just led a march of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn., when in 1968, he was shot and killed on the Lorraine Hotel balcony.
King and UAW President Walter P. Reuther had admired each other from afar, but they were first brought together in 1957 by Horace Sheffield Sr., a UAW international representative and civil rights activist. A mutually beneficial friendship grew between the two leaders. King believed support of labor unions would help his fight, and Reuther saw civil rights as a moral issue important to democracy.
At the time, the UAW had more African-American members than any other union and the UAW-King connection had many high points during ensuing years.
• In 1961, King addressed the UAW 25th Anniversary dinner. He said, in part, “It is axiomatic that what labor needs, Negroes need, and simple logic therefore puts us side by side in the struggle for all elements in the decent standard of living.”
• In 1963, when King led the “Walk to Freedom” in Detroit as a warm-up to the March on Washington, the UAW gave him an office at Solidarity House, staff and financial support for the event. The union urged all members to take part in the event, which drew 200,000 people and was led by King and Reuther.
• Reuther was the only white to speak at the March on Washington.
• Reuther marched beside King many times, including the march in Birmingham, Ala., when King was arrested. It was Reuther who bailed King out.
• The UAW contributed thousands of dollars supporting civil rights in the 1960s and bailed several activists out of jail.
• On his way to King’s funeral, Reuther delivered the UAW’s $50,000 donation to the striking sanitation workers.
• The UAW conferred its Social Justice Award to King posthumously in 1970.
