10.2190/H7KF-FK5U-AL3Y-JF06 H7KFFK5UAL3YJF06 0 THE MEMPHIS SANITATION WORKERS STRIKE OF 1968 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=H7KFFK5UAL3YJF06 2 BRIAN HESHIZER The 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike involved both public sector labor and civil rights issues which were joined to form a protest movement that encompassed the city's black community. The legal framework and economic, social, and political conditions in Memphis strongly influenced the strike's course. Contrasting personalities, the city's inexperience with labor relations, and misjudgments by the union added to the difficulties encountered in trying to settle the dispute. The lack of a recognized process to contain the dispute to a labor issue contributed to the broadening of the conflict to other constituencies. The strike was finally resolved because of local and national pressures on the parties resulting from the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.