AFSCME, Local 1733 members employed at area schools held a press conference at their Union Headquarters yesterday voicing their support for the Transition Planning Commission and offering assistance in carrying out the consolidation of the school districts of the City of Memphis and Shelby County. Tomorrow the members plan to present a white paper and make an official statement on those points to the Shelby County School Board.

Statement of AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee after Pres. Obama’s State of the Union address Read more >>>

Today, 13 Memphis unions representing more than 5,000 workers filed a lawsuit against the City of Memphis. The suit is in response to the 4.6 percent wage cuts for city employees, claiming a violation of the 1st and 14th Amendment rights.

 

Article from the DOL Newsletter - June 9, 2011:

Secretary Solis visited Memphis last weekend to complete a two-part induction of the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike workers into the Labor Hall of Fame.  More than 700 people gathered at the University of Memphis to witness and celebrate the historic occasion.  Solis emphasized the importance of public workers and the positive impact they have on surrounding communities.  She encouraged the crowd to adopt the attitudes of the 1,300 men that participated in the strike and to work toward bettering working conditions in the United States.

The 1,300 sanitation workers who participated in the historic 1968 strike in Memphis, Tennessee -- members of AFSCME Local 1733 -- were enshrined into the U.S. Department of Labor's "Labor Hall of Fame" on April 29, 2011. Eight of the original strikers attended the induction ceremony before a full house in the Grand Hall of the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. and connected their struggle to modern-day battles that continue to be waged against today's labor movement.

Inductees included Local 1733 members Ben Jones, Baxter Leach, Herbert Parson, Cleophus Smith, Alvin Turner, Ozell Ueal, Russell Walton, and Joe Warren.