Charleston Hospital Workers Strike of 1969 Walking Tour - Medical University of South Carolina Hospital & the Strike Origins and Goals

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The Charleston Hospital Workers Strike of 1969 was the largest strike in South Carolina history. It marked the intersection of race, labor, and gender in a major event five years after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which had outlawed employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. The workers on strike were lower paid non-profession workers and they were predominantly African American women. The strike lasted over 100 days and in the end three of the four major grievances were resolved in favor of the strikers. You are standing near the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). In 1969 the building in front of you was the Medical College Hospital for the state of South Carolina. The historical marker noting the strike was dedicated in 2013.

Images

Mary Moultrie at the 2013 dedication of the Hospital Strike historical marker

Strikers march in front of the Medical College of South Carolina on May 12, 1969

Women of Local 1199B union protest in 1969

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The strike began on March 20, 1969. It was preceded by two significant events. Over a year earlier work had begun by several workers to form a union. Local 1199, a national health care workers union, agreed to form a local union (Local 1199B), and Mary Moultrie, a nurse aide at the hospital was chosen as it’s president. Moultrie and others began to meet and organize and twelve of them had a scheduled meeting over their lunch hour with the president of the hospital, William McCord on March 18, 1969, in order to discuss their work conditions. The meeting was short and led to no discussion, and the twelve workers were summarily fired for abandoning the care for their patients.

The workers were underpaid and racial harassment was prevalent in the hospital. The strike began two days later and had four goals. First, increase the pay for the workers from $1.30/hour to the federal minimum wage of $1.60/hour. Second, the institution of a grievance process for the workers. Third, reinstatement of employment for the twelve fired workers. The final aim was recognition of the Local 1199B union.

Sources

George Hopkins. Charleston hospital workers' strike, South Carolina Encyclopedia. April 15th 2016. Accessed October 31st 2020. https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/charleston-hospital-workers-strike/.

Kerry Taylor. The Charleston Hospital Workers Movement, 1968-1969, Low Country Digital History Initiative. November 1st 2013. Accessed October 31st 2020. http://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/charleston_hospital_workers_mo.

Faculty and Staff. Through the eyes of the Charleston hospital workers movement: 50 years later, June 11th 2019. Accessed October 31st 2020. https://today.citadel.edu/through-the-eyes-of-the-charleston-hospital-workers-movement-50-years-later/.

Debnam, Jewell C. . Mary Moultrie, Naomi White, and the Women of the Charleston Hospital Workers' Strike of 1969. Souls, vol. 18, no. 159 - 77. Published March 1st 2016.

Hicks, Brian. "Coretta Scott King at Charleston hospital strike march: Like Selma, Memphis, ‘a national test’ ." The Post and Courier (Charleston) June 9th 2019. .

Image Sources(Click to expand)

https://gullahgeecheenation.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_5625.jpg

https://today.citadel.edu/through-the-eyes-of-the-charleston-hospital-workers-movement-50-years-later/

https://web.musc.edu/about/news-center/2019/05/01/events-mark-50th-anniversary-of-charleston-hospital-workers-strike

The Charleston Hospital Workers Strike of 1969 - Walking Tour

Charleston Hospital Workers Strike of 1969 Walking Tour - Medical University of South Carolina Hospital & the Strike Origins and Goals

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information