MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis city workers who keep their community safe and clean are fighting for the fair wages they were promised. They’re calling out city leaders who have failed to respect the members of AFSCME Local 1733  and keep their promise for a fair wage. 

“Local 1733 members show up every day for Memphis,” said Adrian Rodgers, president of the local. “We do the hard and often unseen work that keeps this city running, but too many of our members are struggling to afford to live in the city we serve. The time for promises is over. The time for fair wages is now.” 

Local 1733 members collect waste, maintain streets and parks, protect neighborhoods and provide essential services throughout Memphis. But their wages have not kept pace with the rising cost of living. 

The city can afford to pay its workers more fairly. While Local 1733 members have been fighting for a living wage, city officials spent tens of millions of dollars on the Sheraton hotel and the local minor league baseball team.

This has prompted many of the employees to talk publicly about the financial struggles of being a Memphis city worker and trying to afford housing, groceries and health care.

“To me, a living wage means that I will be able to pay my rent, be able to buy groceries, eggs and bread, and not sacrifice medications or the ability to provide for my family,” said Michael Ward, an environmental enforcement officer. 

The personal testimonials of AFSCME members are at the heart of a campaign to hold city leaders to their word.  

The Respect AFSCME Local 1733 campaign includes radio and digital advertising, billboards and a rally at City Council on Aug. 4. 

Local 1733 has a proud history of fighting for city workers. Local 1733 sanitation workers were on strike in 1968 when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to Memphis to help them demand dignity and respect from the city. That fight continues. 

Learn more about the workers’ fight for better pay at Respect1733.org.