1978 Memphis fire and police strikes

Memphis and public sector labor unions Prior to the late 1960s, the government of Memphis, Tennessee, did not grant recognition to any labor union representing public employees, claiming that such recognition was illegal under state laws. However, in the aftermath of the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike, the city government agreed to recognize Local 1733 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) as the official bargaining unit for the city's sanitation workers. Following this, the Memphis City Council passed a resolution that allowed for the city to recognize other public sector labor unions. By 1973, the city had recognized both a police union—the Memphis Police Association—and a firefighters' union—Local 1784 of the International Association of Fire Fighters. With both unions, the city government had agreements that prohibited them from engaging in strike actions. By 1978, the government had recognized thirteen public sector unions, representing 4,718 of the city's 9,000 employees. Contract negotiations in 1978 By mid-1978, the city government had negotiated new employment contracts with many of their public sector unions, including the AFSCME local union. However, both the police and firefighters' unions were still in negotiations with the city. The firefighters were seeking a pay raise, Following this, the firefighters' union informed the city government that they were prepared to commence strike action. During contract negotiations, David Baker, the president of the police union, raised the possibility of a coordinated labor dispute against the city that would involve the unions representing the city's firefighters, police, and sanitation workers. However, this coalition failed to materialize, as on July 1, the sanitation workers voted 558 to 553 to accept the city's contract offer. Additionally, the firefighters and police did not coordinate their actions in part because of the disparate goals of the two unions. == Initial strike ==

Early strike activities Early in the morning of Saturday, July 1, approximately 1,400 Memphis firefighters went on strike. About 200 non-union firefighters consisting primarily of individuals who held a rank higher than that of lieutenant, remained on the job. said that he would wait until Monday, July 3, to rule on a requested injunction from the city government that would declare the strike illegal. According to Major General Carl D. Wallace of the National Guard, there had been more fires in Memphis than there had been during the 1968 King assassination riots. In addition to the fires, several fire department ambulances had been damaged in acts of vandalism. Speaking of the long-term impact of the fires, Memphis Fire Director Robert Walker said, "The scars will be there many years." In total, he estimated the damages that occurred during the strike at about $6 million ($ million in ). Meanwhile, damages to fire department equipment and property was estimated at between $50,00 and $100,000 ($ and $ in ). Allegations of arson According to reporting from The New York Times, several city officials accused the striking firefighters of committing arson, which they claimed was responsible the for the high number of fires that occurred over the course of the strike. Memphis Police Director E. Winslow Chapman stated that he believed that "90 to 95 percent" of the fires that had occurred on July 1 were caused by arson, while Fire Director Walker estimated that 90 percent had been caused by arson. In a news conference, Mayor Chandler stated that he believed that the strikers had started most of the fires. However, Local 1784 leaders called the accusations "ridiculous" and instead blamed unknown arsonists for the fires. However, during the strike, several striking firefighters were arrested on charges of suspected arson. == Continued negotiations ==

Following the firefighters' strike, mediation sessions were held between the city government and both the firefighters' union and the police union, who had still not reached an agreement with the city after months of negotiations. However, on July 13, the city government reached tentative agreements with the leadership of both unions that would have resulted in very similar contracts to those expressed in the city's initial offers with the unions. That same day, Mayor Chandler held a debate with Baker, the police union's president, which was broadcast on the local television station WKNO. Despite the agreements with the leaders, neither union ratified the contracts. The firefighters' union leaders decided not to hold a member vote on the agreement, instead opting to see what actions the police union would take. Meanwhile, in a July 15 vote, the police union's members voted by a ratio of nine to one to reject the tentative deal. Over the next several days, negotiations continued, with a series of proposals and counteroffers being submitted between the government and the unions. A week after the police—mayor debate, the mayor announced that the city would cease further negotiations with the police union. Subsequently, Baker began openly discussing the possibility of a police strike. Within 24 hours of the mayor's announcement, the city announced that it had reached tentative agreements with the leadership of both the firefighters' and police unions. However, in a vote by the police union membership, approximately 91 percent voted against accepting the deal. For the firefighters' union, an initial division of the assembly vote saw the union members split about evenly, though a follow-up vote saw about 90 percent vote to reject the deal. Through late July, the police union appealed to the city council to force arbitration, though the council opted not to get involved in the negotiations. The police union was also in talks with the Memphis Education Association about holding a petition drive to force a recall election on Mayor Chandler, though this did not come to fruition. While the police union resisted any job action through July, there is some evidence that union members engaged in a slowdown during this time. By the following month, concerns over a police strike had continued to grow, and on August 8, the police union delivered via telegram a counteroffer to the city government. Mayor Chandler countered with a two-year contract that was ultimately rejected by the union in a vote of 288 in favor and 566 against. Following this vote, the police union announced that they planned to go on strike, with Baker setting a tentative date for a job action on August 13. This was chosen as the city was planning on a major influx of tourists for the anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley, with the strike expected to have a significant impact on the economy. == Subsequent strikes ==

Initial police strike Unionized police officers commenced striking on Thursday, August 10. was performed by officers at the nonsupervisory ranks of patrolman and sergeant. The city government, similar to what it had done during the firefighters' strike, sought a court order from the Shelby County Chancery Court to force the striking police officers back to work. In addition to the National Guard, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office provided officers to enforce the curfew. On Saturday, August 12, Chancellor George Lewis told the striking officers to either return to work or turn in their badges, Firefighters' strike On Monday, August 14, about 1,400 unionized firefighters joined with the police officers in striking against the city. However, this proposition was derided by union officials, who again floated the idea of a citywide general strike. Memphis and the greater Shelby County, Tennessee, area, experienced a large power outage. While Mayor Chandler initially expressed dissatisfaction with the deals, he ultimately approved them. Firefighters and police officers returned to work in two waves on August 18 and 19, with the strike officially coming to an end on the latter. The two-year agreements contained provisions that were very similar to those originally proposed by the city government, including a 6 percent wage increase that would be retroactively applied to July and a 7.5 percent increase the following year. There would also be an additional pay raise of $30 ($ in ) in April 1979. However, the mayor agreed to make the second-year pay increases subject to a renegotiation based on the results of a fact-finding committee. Additionally, the city government agreed to a policy of amnesty for strikers, except for those who had committed felonies. == Aftermath and later history ==

According to journalist Michael Daly of New Times, the job actions in Memphis were the first time that a city experienced joint strike actions by members of both their fire and police departments. During mid-1978, several other American cities experienced labor disputes with their public sector employees. In Tennessee, this included police slowdowns in Nashville and Knoxville and the threat of a firefighters' strike in Chattanooga. According to Daly, the Memphis disputes served as a template for several of these other incidents. In Memphis, public sector labor disputes continued, with teachers going on strike later in the year. The 1978 strikes marked the last time that a civil emergency was declared in Memphis until March 2020, when the mayor declared one as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee. During this pandemic, National Guard troops were also ordered into the city. The strikes would also be the last time that a curfew was in place until one was instated in June 2020 amidst the George Floyd protests in Tennessee. Fire and police unions in Memphis On September 6, just several weeks after the firefighters and police officers had returned to work, the Memphis City Council drafted an amendment to the municipal charter that stipulated that any public employee who engaged in a job action against the city government would immediately be fired and stripped of seniority and other benefits. Additionally, neither the mayor nor city council would be able to interfere in the employee's termination. On November 7, in a citywide referendum, this measure passed with approximately 64 percent of the vote. The following year, the fact-finding committee submitted a report to the city government which resulted in no changes being made to the initially agreed 7.5 percent wage increase. The strikes also caused divisions within the fire and police departments, with a 1983 study showing that at least four police officers resigned as a direct result of the police strike. Following the strikes, the public unions in Memphis experienced a decline in strength, and in a report published in 2004, the 1978 incidents marked the last instance of a strike by municipal employees. By that time, according to a report published in Essays in Economic & Business History, the unions were operating more as lobbying groups than as traditional labor unions. However, in both 2014 and 2015, local media reported on a potential blue flu by some police officers, prompting comparisons to the 1978 strike. Further legal disputes between the city government and its public unions occurred in 2025, with WMC-TV further drawing comparisons between the ongoing labor disagreements and the 1978 strikes. == See also ==