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Echol Cole and Robert Walker were
Following their deaths, their widows received no insurance benefits; the city offered one month's pay for each man, and $500 for funeral expenses. Black Memphians donated $100,000 USD to the widows; the
sanitation workers
A sanitation worker (or sanitary worker) is a person responsible for cleaning, maintaining, operating, or emptying the equipment or technology at any step of the sanitation chain.World Bank, ILO, WaterAid, and WHO (2019)Health, Safety and Dignity ...
who died accidentally in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
at the corner of Colonial Rd. and Verne Rd. on February 1, 1968. While working that day, the pair sought refuge from a rainstorm in the compactor area of their garbage truck. They were killed when the compactor accidentally activated. Their deaths were a precursor to the Memphis sanitation strike
The Memphis sanitation strike began on February 12, 1968, in response to the deaths of sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker.Estes, S. (2000). `I AM A MAN A MAN?’: Race, Masculinity, and the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike. ''Labor ...
, during which the prominent civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
was assassinated.
Accidental deaths
Cole (age 36) and Walker (age 30) were both sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Both reported for work on February 1, 1968, a day the rain would be later reported as torrential, overflowing the sewers and flooding the streets. While on shift, at around 4:20pm, the pair sought refuge in the back of their truck during a rainstorm. A malfunction followed, and both men were crushed to death by the truck'sgarbage compactor
A compactor is a machine or mechanism used to reduce the size of material such as waste material or bio mass through compaction. A trash compactor is often used by a home or business to reduce the volume of trash it produces. A baler-wrapper comp ...
. Their coworker Elester Gregory, who had been riding in the cab of the truck, said "The motor started racing and the driver stopped and ran around and smashed that button to stop that thing ... I didn’t know what was happening. It looked to me like one of them almost got out, but he got caught and just fell back in there.”
Repercussions
Following their deaths, their widows received no insurance benefits; the city offered one month's pay for each man, and $500 for funeral expenses. Black Memphians donated $100,000 USD to the widows; the United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico ...
donated an additional $25,000 USD.
The deaths of Cole and Walker proved to be the catalyst for the Memphis sanitation strike. On February 11, ten days after their deaths, union Local 1733 held a strike meeting where over 400 workers complained that the city refused to provide decent wages and working conditions. The workers wanted immediate action but the city refused.
On Monday February 12, 1968, 930 of 1100 sanitation workers did not show up for work, including 214 of 230 sewer drainage workers. Only 38 of the 108 garbage trucks continued to move.
Their deaths, together with many racial and working-class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...
injustices prompted Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
to join a citywide march on March 18. The march ended with police action, but another was scheduled. King was assassinated the evening before the second march.
See also
* I Am a Man!References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Echol 1968 deaths 1968 in Tennessee February 1968 events in the United States History of Memphis, Tennessee