<P> The Memphis sanitation strike began in February 1968 in Memphis , Tennessee . Following years of poor pay and dangerous working conditions , and provoked by the crushing to death of workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker in garbage compactors , over 700 of the 1300 black sanitation workers met on Sunday , February 11 , and agreed to strike . They then did not turn out for work on the following day . They also sought to join the American Federation of State , County , and Municipal Employees ( AFSCME ) Local 1733 . The sanitation strike was also the reason for Martin Luther King Jr. 's presence in Memphis , where he was assassinated . </P>
<P> The Memphis sanitation strike began in February 1968 in Memphis , Tennessee . Following years of poor pay and dangerous working conditions , and provoked by the crushing to death of workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker in garbage compactors , over 700 of the 1300 black sanitation workers met on Sunday , February 11 , and agreed to strike . They then did not turn out for work on the following day . They also sought to join the American Federation of State , County , and Municipal Employees ( AFSCME ) Local 1733 . The sanitation strike was also the reason for Martin Luther King Jr. 's presence in Memphis , where he was assassinated . </P>
when did mlk lead protesters through memphis in support of sanitation workers
when did mlk lead protesters through memphis in support of sanitation workers
February 1968
February 1968