‘There was one thing for which all the pain and sacrifice was justified: Union recognition’

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968

“With the settlement of many of these early strikes, there was little or nothing added to the pay envelope, little or nothing for job security and a mountain of debts to pay and harsh memories to forget. Yet there was one thing that was won, one thing that was fought for as indispensable, one thing for which all the pain and sacrifice was justified: Union recognition. It seemed so miniscule a victory that people outside the labor movement scorned it as in fact just a defeat. But to those who understood, union recognition meant the employer’s acknowledgement of that strength, and the two meant the opportunity to fight again for further gains with united and multiplied power. As contract followed contract, the pay envelope fattened and fringe benefits and job rights grew to the mature work standards of today. All of these started with winning first union recognition.”

— Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., May 2, 1967
In a speech to shop stewards of Local 815, Teamsters and the Allied Trades Council