We Are One

April 4, 2011, was the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tenn., when the civil rights activist stood with sanitation workers who dreamed of – and demanded – a better life.

It’s no coincidence that 1968 was a turning point for civil rights and the labor movement. King’s death forced then-Memphis Mayor Henry Loeb to recognize the 1,300 African-American workers as American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (ASFCME).

But while the newly recognized members gained improved working conditions and better wages, the 64-day strike left our nation without Dr. King, its most prominent civil rights champion.

Today, the right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a middle-class life are again under attack as never before.

Legislation attacking public sector workers’ collective bargaining rights have been introduced in 19 states including: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington state.

And public sector workers – firefighters, teachers, bus drivers and others – continue to face an unprecedented level of attacks on their pay, health care and pensions.

The building trades are being targeted as well, through attacks on prevailing wage laws and project labor agreements, which are expected to be targeted in at least 26 states.

The good news is this: We have unprecedented activism and solidarity. There’s a growing energy, spark and creativity amid this new social movement of hard-working men and women who find themselves in these battleground states.

On April 4, thousands of UAW members, retirees and other labor activists around the nation showed their support by holding rallies from California to Maine, demanding that their voices be heard.

“We Are One” – a coalition of labor, community and faith groups – brought forth a wave of more than 1,200 demonstrations, town hall meetings, candlelight vigils, teach-ins and other actions to coincide with King’s assassination.

Dr. King gave his life for the freedom to bargain, to vote and to have justice for all workers. Ironically, his final battle was for public employees who were under attack.

But his legacy lives on, as well as his words, first spoken at an AFL-CIO convention in 1965:

“The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress ... and above all, new wage levels that meant not mere survival, but a tolerable life.”