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Tragic Accident
Sparks Sanitation Strike
On February 1, 1968, sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker took shelter from the rain inside their truck's garbage barrel because they had no raincoats. One block south of here, at the corner of Colonial and Verne, the compacting motor shorted, and the two men were crushed to death. On the same day, due to weather, 22 black sewer workers were sent home without pay while their white supervisors were retained for the day with pay.
On February 12, more than 1100 black sanitation workers began a strike for job safety, better wages and benefits, and union recognition. The deaths of Cole and Walker were key factors contributing to the sanitation workers' strike. Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave three separate Memphis speeches in support of the strikers and their cause, the last coming on April 3. The following day, Dr. King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel.
[Text from historic marker unveiled in an East Memphis neighborhood on Feb. 1, 2014 by the Tennessee Historical Commission.]
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Robert Walker
Memphis Sanitation Worker.
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