On February 1, 1968, sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker took shelter from the rain inside their truck's garbage barrel because they had no raincoats. One block south of here, at the corner of Colonial and Verne, the compacting motor shorted, and the two men were crushed to death. That same day, because of the weather, 22 black sewer workers were sent home without pay while their white supervisors were kept on the job with pay. On February 12, more than 1100 black sanitation workers began a strike for job safety, better wages and benefits, and union recognition. The deaths of Cole and Walker were key factors in the strike. Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave three speeches supporting the strikers and their cause, the last on April 3. The next day, Dr. King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel.
