WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)

Description

In this WSB newsfilm clip from March 24, 1969, sanitation workers in Macon, Georgia strike for recognition of their chosen union, and African American leaders comment on the situation.The clip begins showing the Macon City Hall. Cars drive along the street in front of the building. An African American man carries a picket sign with the slogan "I am a man" as he walks down the street. The camera focuses on a patch on the man's shirt which reads "Macon Public Works Dept." Next it focuses on a street sign indicating "City of Macon Public Works Dept. and Stockade." Near the public works building, two African American men with picket signs walk down the sidewalk then turn and walk the other way. The men's picket signs read "No money, no work." Inside the public works department yard, two Macon garbage trucks are parked nose to nose. After this, an African American man, possibly Atlanta union organizer James Howard, explains to reporter Lo Jelks that there are over one hundred people from the Macon Public Works Department on strike. Howard hopes that the city will recognize a local branch of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees union as desired by those on strike. However, he declares that he will follow the leaders of the African American community in Macon in order to achieve recognition. Later, another African American man expresses the African American community's support for the striking sanitation workers. He recognizes that "too often and too long...

Record Contributed By

Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia