Elmore Nickleberry, Memphis sanitation worker who went on (the MLK) strike in 1968, dies at 92

[Omaha Steve]

By AFSCME Staff · Wednesday, January 03, 2024

Elmore Nickleberry, one of the original AFSCME sanitation workers who went on strike in 1968 to fight for fair wages, safer worker conditions, union recognition and dignity, has died in Memphis at age 92.

Nickleberry was one of nearly 1,300 mostly black sanitation workers in Memphis who endured grueling, unsafe working conditions and poverty wages ($1.65 a day) in the 1960s. He was one of the last of the original strikers.

He described what it was like to tote the heavy garbage bins over his head: “Sometimes the tub had holes in it, and garbage would run all down my face — maggots and stuff all in my face.” He said that at the end of the day, he smelled so bad he was not even allowed on city buses.

The workers’ longstanding fight for union recognition came to a head in the winter of 1968, after two sanitation workers, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, were killed in the malfunctioning compactor their garbage truck.

FULL story: https://www.afscme.org/blog/elmore-nickleberry-memphis-sanitation-worker-who-went-on-strike-in-1968-dies-at-92

[niyad]

1. Rest in power, good and brave soul.