In this WSB newsfilm clip from Atlanta, Georgia on October 19, 1966, local ministers, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Aldermanic Board of Firemen discuss the possibility of rehiring of Atlanta firemen who went on strike to protest their wages and hours. The clip's audio is inconsistent; not all comments are completely recorded.

The clip begins with an interracial group of men sitting around a table in a conference room. Dr. King expresses sympathy for the firemen who were fired after striking. He calls for the city officials to have compassion for the firemen and to recognize their responsibility to the firemen. An unidentified white man responds to King's comments stressing that he believes city officials and the Aldermanic Board of Firemen have done enough and warns of the importance of maintaining good human relations in the negotiations and in the outcomes. King expresses concern that if the situation is not worked out in a way that removes conflict, former firemen and their supporters in the city will harbor "great bitterness." He appeals to the Aldermanic Board to reopen negotiations with the firemen. Another unidentified white man replies that legally the city cannot reopen negotiations. He emphasizes that he believes the city has given "every kind of opportunity that I could see that we could possibly afford them."

In June 1966, a group of firemen discontent with their wages and hours split from the International Association of Fire Fighters local 134, which could not strike, and created their own union, the Atlanta Fire Fighters Union in order to go on strike. Preliminary negotiations brought the firemen back to the force for a period between June and September 1966. As reported by the Atlanta Journal, at the meeting with Atlanta-area ministers, fire chief C. H. Hildebrand asserted that morale in the Atlanta Fire Department during the June through September period was "shattered." He also expressed his opinion that men who walk out cannot return with full rank and privilege. He informed the ministers' group that rules for return after a strike provide for full longevity and pension rights, but a loss of option for vacation time and chores. Additionally they would return as privates in rank but maintain their former pay rate and numbers of years towards retirement. Eventually three hundred thirty of the five hundred forty fire fighters who went on strike were rehired by the city. In July 1967, the remaining fire fighters who were not rehired sued in federal court to be rehired, but the judge in the case ruled against them.

Title supplied by cataloger.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection.

1 clip (about 3 min.): black-and-white, sound ; 16 mm.

Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of ministers including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Aldermanic Board of Firemen negotiating about the rehire of striking firemen, Atlanta, Georgia, 1966 October 19, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 1352, 31:24/34:03, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.

Forms part of: Civil Rights Digital Library.