Every January, we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day to reflect on the collective body of work of a man who fought for civil rights, racial equality, justice, and labor union advocacy. Dr. King believed that civil rights were closely connected to the labor movement and workers’ rights.
Dr. King is known to have given numerous speeches in solidarity with labor unions, with one of his first speeches on the topic connecting the two, presented at a meatpacking union conference in Chicago in 1957. This is before the more famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. An excerpt from that speech, “I still believe that organized labor can be one of the most powerful instruments to do away with this evil that confronts our nation, that we refer to as segregation and discrimination. It is certainly true that the forces that are anti-Negro are by and large anti-labor, and with the coming together of the powerful influence of labor and all people of good will in the struggle for freedom and human dignity, I can assure you that we have a powerful instrument.”
Dr. King was known for speaking at numerous labor union conferences and events. In solidarity, the day before his death, he gave a speech in support of the striking sanitation workers in Memphis, TN, at the Mason Temple. Excerpt “Secondly, let us keep the issues where they are. The issue is injustice. The issue is the refusal of Memphis to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers. Now, we’ve got to keep attention on that. That’s always the problem with a little violence. You know what happened the other day, and the press dealt only with the window-breaking. I read the articles. They very seldom got around to mentioning the fact that one thousand, three hundred sanitation workers were on strike, and that Memphis is not being fair to them, and that Mayor Loeb is in dire need of a doctor. They didn’t get around to that.”
Dr. King had a recurring theme in his speeches, “respect the dignity and worth of all human personality,” which eventually evolved into “all labor has dignity.” There is a book of the same title, “All Labor Has Dignity,” which is a collection of Dr. King’s speeches on labor rights and economic justice throughout the years.
It took many years for this day to become a federal holiday, with the first bill introduced in 1968 and not signed into law until 1983. It was first observed in 1986, and Congress designated it a national day of service in 1994. It was not until 2000 that all 50 states officially recognized the holiday.
In reflection, as you celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day, consider how you might use your powerful voice, influence, and goodwill to help our UMPSA labor union in 2026. Collectively, we can achieve forward progress for all.
~Noreen M. Cremin
References:
MLK Day – The Echo. http://echo.snu.edu/tag/mlk-day/
Rare transcript and photos of MLK Jr.’s union speech discovered – Cornell University Library. https://www.library.cornell.edu/about/news/rare-transcript-photos-of-mlk-jr-union-speech-discovered/
Jacob Swartwout, R. D. (2012). Reaching the Promised Land. https://core.ac.uk/download/48622851.pdf
MLK Day: A day on, not a day off – The Warrior Word. https://cherokeehighnews.com/2020/01/20/mlk-day-a-day-on-not-a-day-off/