The Struggle Continues- Honoring 45th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther Kings death

On April 3 and April 4, 2013 CWA Secretary Treasurer Annie Hill, District 3 Vice President Judith Dennis, Booker Lester, Administrative Director, Liz Roberson, Assistant to VP Sunkett,  CWA Staff M.M. Smith, J.C. Smith and Vonda Hardy, Special Assignment Organizer Michele McNeil, Retired Staff Representative Ron Tyree, Mike Bennard, President Local 3806, Robert Santucci, EVP Local 3806, Paul Klaebel, Local 3806 Terri Sylvester, Local 3902 were in Memphis Tennessee along with hundreds of Union members to mark the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther Kings death.  Panel discussions were held on economic justice; remarks from Civil Rights Leaders and entertainment was held at the Mason Temple where Dr. King gave his last speech.

On Thursday, April 4, in honor of the 1300 striking sanitation workers participants marched from AFSCME Local 1733 to the National Civil Rights Museum calling for a new commitment to the human rights causes Dr. King died for.  With the march and a dedication ceremony Thursday, they honored King and the sanitation workers strike that brought him to Memphis, where he was assassinated in 1968. A section of historic Beale Street was dedicated to the 1,300 sanitation workers who walked off their jobs in February 1968 after two garbage collectors were crushed to death in a malfunctioning truck. The strikers demanded — and eventually received — higher pay and safer working conditions.  The street, named "1968 Strikers Lane," runs in front of the headquarters of AFSCME Local 1733.