Charleston Hospital Workers Strike of 1969 Walking Tour - Charleston City Market & the Strike Resolution

On June 27, 1969 a settlement was reached to end the strike for the Medical College Hospital and three weeks later a similar settlement was reached for the Charleston County Hospital. The major reason the hospital settled with the strikers was because of pressure from the business community. The strike had gone on for over one hundred days. Local businesses were suffering due to the marches and curfews. The tourist’s industry was suffering with fewer people wanting to visit the area due to the unrest. The local African American community also engaged in an effective boycott of businesses, striving only to purchase food and medicine from the local businesses. Some businesses reported their revenue down over 50 %, and there was an estimated loss of $15 million in revenue due to the unrest. 

Another reason the strike ended was that local leaders, especially the mayor and the police chief, wanted to avoid the conflict leading to loss of human life. Earlier in the year, three African American protesters in Orangeburg, SC had been killed and nearly thirty injured in a confrontation with police. Leaders in Charleston did not want to continue with the daily confrontations between protesters and police that could potentially escalate and lead to loss of life.

The four demands of the strike were met by the hospital. The wage for the workers increased from $1.30/hour to the federal minimum wage of $1.60/hour. A grievance procedure was introduced in the hospital. The original twelve works that were fired on March 18 were allowed to return to work. The recognition of the union (Local 1199B) was the final demand and it was granted but had little chance of long-term sustainability. Since South Carolina was a right to work state, the union was unable to compel automatic membership and also unable to garnish wages from workers. Within a year, due to low membership and lack of funds, the Local 1199 union withdrew its support for Local 1199B and the shop folded.

The Charleston Hospital strike of 1969 to date is the largest strike ever in South Carolina history. The combination of civil rights and union activism (commonly called Civil Rights Unionism) helped lead to a successful resolution. It was also an achievement for women rights – advancing the economic interest of low income African American women working in non-professional jobs. 

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. .