Friday morning, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Local Union 613, hosted their annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfast at their Pulliam St. headquarters. Senators Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock were in attendance. They were joined by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond and Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman. Additionally, Ambassador Andrew Young and Wanda Cooper-Jones, the mother of Ahmaud Arbery, were in attendance.
Dr. King was a supporter of labor unions. He traveled to Memphis against the advice of his closest advisors because he wanted to argue for the improvement of working conditions for sanitation workers. Echol Cole and Robert Walker were crushed by a faulty garbage truck compactor as they sought shelter from a rainstorm in the back of the truck on February 1, 1968. After that, 1,300 Black sanitation workers formed a union and went on strike.
“That is why Negroes support labor’s demands and fight laws which curb labor. That is why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth,” King said in a speech in December 1961.
King ultimately led a march on Beale Street on March 28, 1968, that turned violent when police and protesters clashed. On April 3rd, 1968, he would deliver his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech at the Mason Temple in Memphis which essentially foretold his death the following day at the Lorraine Motel.
Those historical facts were not lost on the minds of the attendees of Friday’s brunch.
“Three years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, and four years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, which integrated public accommodations, they were still forced to live in segregated settings,” said Senator Warnock. I think that’s important to underscore because we tell ourselves a simple story about the movement. We say that a long time ago there was segregation. Dr. King had a dream, everybody got it, and we lived happily ever after. But then workers in 1968 couldn’t get inside the truck. Their bodies were literally crushed. And this is why the labor movement is so important because poor people, working people are still often crushed by the machinery of power.”
The IBEW 613 is characterized as Georgia’s House of Labor. In 2023, members celebrated the contributions of Dr. King, and those who traveled with him: Andrew Young, John Lewis, Ralph David Abernathy and others. Each collectively made sacrifices to the principles of freedom, equality and justice for his life and his contributions.
“Dr. King told laborers that work that serves humanity as dignity at work,” said Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens. “That is partly why we are working so hard to make sure that Atlanta is a city of opportunity for all and while we are working so hard to make sure our city lives up to its true promise and where our residents can not just survive, but that they can thrive.”
There were also celebrations inside Georgia’s House of Labor. For example, Teamsters unions ratified a new five-year contract on August 22nd. The deal raises pay, eliminates a two-tier wage system for drivers, provides another paid holiday and ends forced overtime. When the deal was announced, it calmed fears that a work stoppage could have skyrocketed shipping costs during the Christmas shopping season.
Another example is the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the Teamsters, and Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is in a strong position because they believe the movie and television studios cannot withstand another strike in 2024. Why? Each union showed solidarity with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) to pursue its strategy of shutting down productions early in its 148-day strike. Crew unions, the writers and actors unions all banded together around a common goal.
As a result, the 60,000 members represented by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, reached a tentative three-year deal in November with executives from top entertainment companies including Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and Universal.
Lastly, the United Auto Workers’ (UAW) new agreement with General Motors grants a 25% increase in base wage through April 2028 and will cumulatively raise the top wage by 33%, compounded with estimated cost-of-living adjustments to over $42 an hour. After the UAW ratified a new labor agreement with Stellantis (the company that manufactures Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram Trucks), labor members will receive a 25% raise, the starting wage for new employees increased 67% and the top wages will increase 33% compared to their pre-strike levels.
Which brings everyone back to Dr. King’s embrace of Organized Labor. Thurmond essentially said everyone cannot be 100% for him, even though he works with many people in the room.
“But we got to do more than celebrate,” said DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond. “We have to rededicate ourselves to finishing the unfinished work before us. It’s a difference than being unified, as opposed to being unanimous. And see, when you’re out of power at the state level, we have to recognize that the only time we really need to be unified and you unanimous is when we are holding those who oppose us.”
Senator Ossoff echoed similar sentiments.
“Our purpose is to lift up those who build and make things, those who labor and each day those who have built this nation as we undertake historic efforts to rebuild America’s infrastructure,” said Ossoff. “We serve those who will benefit from that infrastructure and those who are building as we reinvigorate American industry and manufacturing.”
As the aroma of bacon, grits, potatoes and waffles filled the air at the IBEW 613, Senator Warnock left everyone with one distinct message.
“So as you remember Dr. King, let us remember the key words: He said that anybody can be great because everybody can serve,” said Senator Warnock. “You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love. So thank you organized labor.”