; Whereas, in response to the demands of the workers, Mayor Loeb, on February 13, 1968, threatened to hire replacements unless workers returned to work; Whereas, on February 18, 1968, the President of AFSCME, Jerry Wurf, arrived in Memphis and negotiations began in the basement of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church with Rabbi James A. Wax of Temple Israel representing the Memphis Ministerial Association, mediating between the city and striking workers, assisted by Local 1733 President T.O. Jones and AFSCME Director of Legislative and Community Affairs William Lucy; Whereas, after an all-night vigil outside City Hall on February 19 through 20, 1968, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and union workers called for a boycott of downtown businesses; Whereas, on February 23, 1968, 1,500 strikers and supporters organized a march to the Memphis City Hall, where, 11 days after the initial strike, the City Council refused to recognize the union; Whereas, in the following days, 500 White labor union members joined members of the clergy and sanitation workers in a march downtown, 116 strikers and supporters were arrested during a peaceful demonstration, and hundreds of high school students joined in another march led or supported by members of the clergy, including Rabbi Wax, the Reverend Frank McRae of St. John’s United Methodist Church, Father Nicholas Vieron of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, and Dean William Dimmick of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church; Whereas, on March 4, 1968, a proposal by State Senator Frank White to create a State mediation board to resolve the stalemate was rejected by Mayor Loeb; Whereas, on March 5, 1968, the Memphis Ministerial Association announced that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., would be traveling to Memphis on behalf of striking workers; Whereas, on March 7, 1968, the City Council voted to reject union dues checkoff for sanitation workers