Celebrating a Legacy of Solidarity on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

As our members commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day at UFCW Local 401, we remember the great Civil Rights leader as someone who truly understood and advanced the cause of solidarity.

A leader of vision who ultimately lost his life in the struggle, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most clear-eyed voices for solidarity of his day. Solidarity between American struggles for liberation and those around the world, solidarity between struggles for racial justice and the anti-war cause that whirled around the conflict in Vietnam… and solidarity above all between the Civil Rights movement and the labour movement, whose causes were one and the same.

King often had cause to remind his audience that Black Americans were overwhelmingly working-class, and that the cause of the working class was their cause. For example, when speaking to union members at the AFSCME Memphis Sanitation strike in April of 1968, he said:

“You are demanding that this city will respect the dignity of labor. So often we overlook the work and the significance of those who are not in professional jobs, of those who are not in the so-called big jobs. But let me say to you tonight that whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity and it has worth.”

In the larger sense, he was a leader who credited the labor movement with bringing hope to the progressive cause in America in general. He never lost sight of this need for solidarity, which was a crucial part of his legacy.

That legacy is important to the challenging work of progress and the advancement of human rights — including labour rights — that lies ahead. We look forward to committing to the cause of solidarity with all of you this year.