Memphis honors Martin Luther King, Jr., on assassination anniversary
Source: Associated Press
Updated: April 4, 2013 7:14AM
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — City officials will rename a street and union members are scheduled to march down Memphis’ streets to honor the late Martin Luther King Jr. and the workers strike that brought him here.
The dedication of “1968 Strikers Lane” is scheduled for Thursday, the 45th anniversary of King’s assassination.
King was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers strike when he was killed while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel on April 4, 1968.
After the street naming, participants will march from the local headquarters of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees to the National Civil Rights Museum, which was built on the site of the old Lorraine Motel ...
Read more: http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/19268956-418/memphis-honors-martin-luther-king-jr-on-assassination-anniversary.html
Adrian Sainz, The Associated Press
Published Thursday, April 4, 2013 11:13AM EDT
... In 1968, wages were so low that some workers had to stand in welfare lines to feed their families. Working conditions were so dangerous men were dying on the job. Today, the divisiveness is over whether the people who pick up the garbage should be government employees or whether the service should be turned over to private contractors.
City council members who favor privatization say the city can't afford to ignore a chance to save $8 million to $15 million in a tight budget.
"It looks like they're trying to take us down again," said 81-year-old Elmore Nickleberry, one of the original strikers who still drives a garbage truck at night. Nickleberry and fellow strikers are expected to take part in a march Thursday to honor King's sacrifice on the 45th anniversary of his death.
The shadow of 1968 still looms over Nickleberry and 1,300 other workers. They were overworked and underpaid, picking up grimy, leaking waste without proper uniforms. They faced the daily risk of severe injury or death while working with malfunctioning garbage trucks ...
= new reply since forum marked as read
Wish I could be in Memphis today to see it 
