Dr. King’s Economic Justice Agenda - From Memphis to Wisconsin - 27:07

Martin Luther King’s Economic Justice Agenda From Memphis To Wisconsin Forty three years ago, a struggle by 1,300 sanitation workers for economic justice brought Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Memphis. On the eve of his death, hours after marching with the AFSCME sanitation workers, being denied the right of collective bargaining & facing down the armed forces of a city & state, Martin Luther King, Jr. declared: “work that serves humanity…It has dignity and it has worth.” WE ARE ONE Today in Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida and more than a dozen other states, well-funded, corporatist politicians are trying to take away the union rights Dr. King gave his life for. This year, to commemorate his sacrifice, the AFL-CIO called for nationwide events and actions to link the struggle of 1968 to the challenges we face today, We Are One. ***** Carrying On The Legacy Of Dr. Martin Luther King with Dr. Vincent Harding, an associate of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, has written numerous books, including "Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero". On this 43rd year since the death of Dr. King, speechwriter, confidante Dr. Harding discusses Dr. King’s economic justice activism and its relevance for us today as workers battle for the survival of their labor organizations, against give backs, stagnating wages and unemployment **** From Ground Zero Of the War on the Workers: Reports from Wisconsin and Ohio with Peter Rickman, Teaching Asst., LaFollette Law School , Univ. of Wisconsin, & member of Teaching Assistants’ Assn., AFT Local 3220 and Joseph Rugola, Exec. Dir., Ohio Assn. of Public School Employees, AFSCME The Ohio legislature just passed Gov. Kasich’s union busting bill which nullifies public employee rights. Meanwhile, Gov. Scott Walkers’ rush to cut public sector worker benefits, and bust their unions in Wisconsin has been stymied by court action. But the workers in both states aren’t taking the assaults lying down, we found out how they’re carrying on the legacy of Dr. King by going live to the We are One demonstration in Madison Wisconsin. stream or download