Teamsters make Martin Luther King Jr. an honorary member 55 years after his assassination

For many, the posthumous induction of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as an honorary member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has been a long time coming.

"What it means for me today, it's a proud moment," said Anthony Rosa, the director of the Teamsters Human Rights and Diversity Commission, as he choked up in a ceremony Tuesday. "We're bringing him into our family. And that's touching for me. It's important that we show that he [King] is a member of ours, whether he's here or not. And to keep his memory alive."

King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis 55 years ago on April 4, 1968. When he was killed, King was in Memphis supporting striking sanitation workers demanding fair wages, better working conditions and union recognition.

"If that sounds familiar, that's because those are the exact same things that we are fighting for today," Rosa said. "That's why the Memphis sanitation workers' strike is so important. It shows that the unions can play a crucial role in the fight for civil rights and racial justice. It shows that the workers of all races can come together and fight for each other. And it shows that we can win."

The ceremony recognized King's induction into Teamsters Local 728, the union out of Atlanta, Georgia, where King was born and raised.

"We know that Atlanta was a very special place for Dr. King," Sean O'Brien, the general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said in a video played at the ceremony, which he could not attend. "It was home and a place of healing."

The induction ceremony was held less than a week after a woman was killed after she was hit by a third party truck at the Shelby County Landfill. The waste disposal and trash pickup company, Republic Services, said the victim was an employee at the South Shelby Landfill, according to WMC Action News 5.

"This week, the lessons that those workers taught us hit me a little harder," Teamsters Local 667 President James Jones said. "How can it be that way in 2023? You still have sanitation workers in Memphis who are risking their lives for the job and the circumstances that they endure. Every day. These circumstances are similar to what they went through 55 years ago. My heart goes out to the young lady from the Republic. I don't know if you heard, last week, we had a young lady who worked for the landfill that was crushed by a garbage truck."

Teamsters Waste & Recycling Division Director Chuck Stiles spoke about the treatment of the workers at two of the companies that work in sanitation in Memphis today, Waste Management and Republic Services

"When you look back at how workers of color are treated at Waste Management, and the Republic, it's no different than it was 55 years ago. The drivers, the workers, are primarily people of color. The bosses are automatically white, it doesn't matter," Stiles said. "That's just the way it is. If you look at their websites, what do you see? 'We honor the legacy of Dr. King. We had to take Republic Services down kicking and screaming, we had to embarrass them (to make MLK Day a holiday)."

Gina Butkovich covers DeSoto County, storytelling and general news. She can be reached at 901/232-6714.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Martin Luther King Jr. made an honorary Teamster member