Fifty years after historic sanitation workers' strike in Memphis, their struggle still continues

In the first 10 days of 2018 alone, seven sanitation workers were killed in six states, the Solid Waste Association of North America says.

In this March 23, 2018, photo, trainee Brent Cottongin, with Rumpke Waste & Recycling, hauls recycling bags as he works a residential route in Beavercreek, Ohio. | AP

Updated on:

05 Apr 2018, 7:14 am

2 min read

In this March 23, 2018, photo, Kenny Lawson, a former sanitation worker who lost his legs in an accident while working a garbage route, poses for a photograph at Sam's Club, where he now works, in Beavercreek, Ohio. Fifty years after two sanitation workers' deaths provoked an historic strike in Memphis, trash collection remains one of the nation's most dangerous jobs. Lawson lost his legs in 1996 when a driver plowed him into the back of garbage truck, pinning him underneath. | AP

In this March 23, 2018, photo, trainee Brent Cottongin, with Rumpke Waste & Recycling, directs his garbage truck driver as he works a residential route in Beavercreek, Ohio. Fifty years after two sanitation workers' deaths provoked an historic strike in Memphis, trash collection remains one of the nation's most dangerous jobs. In the first 10 days of 2018 alone, seven sanitation workers were killed in six states, the Solid Waste Association of North America says. | AP

In this March 23, 2018, photo, foreman Kenny Lane rides the back of a garbage truck as he works a residential route in Miamisburg, Ohio. Fifty years after two sanitation workers' deaths provoked an historic strike in Memphis, trash collection remains one of the nation's most dangerous jobs. In the first 10 days of 2018 alone, seven sanitation workers were killed in six states, the Solid Waste Association of North America says. | AP

In this March 23, 2018, photo, Ken Lawson, a former sanitation worker who lost his legs in an accident while working a garbage route, sits in his truck for a photograph outside Sam's Club, where he now works, in Beavercreek, Ohio. | AP

In this March 23, 2018, photo, trainee Brent Cottongin, with Rumpke Waste & Recycling, hauls recycling bins as he works a residential route in Beavercreek, Ohio. | AP

In this March 23, 2018, photo, Route driver Jaime Fisherback, right, and foreman Kenny Lane, left, collect refuse to load into a garbage truck as they work a residential route in Miamisburg, Ohio. | AP

In this March 23, 2018, photo, trainee Brent Cottongin, with Rumpke Waste & Recycling, rides on the back of a garbage truck as he works a residential route in Beavercreek, Ohio. | AP