Fair Contract

A color photograph of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressing a crowd with blue text in the sky, white text in the trees, and yellow text on his jacket. 

In 1961, Rev. Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. stated, "In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as 'right to work.' It is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights. It is supported by Southern segregationists who are trying to keep us from achieving our civil rights and our right of equal job opportunity. Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining by which unions have improved wages and working conditions of everyone. Wherever these laws have been passed, wages are lower, job opportunities are fewer and there are no civil rights. We do not intend to let them do this to us. We demand this fraud be stopped. Our weapon is our vote." 

King had a long relationship with unions. On 3 April 1968, the night before his assassination, he spoke in support of the 1,300 Memphis, Tennessee sanitation workers on strike.  

In 1963, the Teamsters Local 743 participated in the March on Washington, supporting what became the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This button commemorates the Teamsters Local 743's Martin Luther King Day celebration in 2009.