[4] During the 1967 election campaign, where he won his second term, he voiced increasingly antagonistic views regarding civil rights and labor, running on a platform that refused to make any concessions to black union workers.

About 1,300 African-American members of Local 1733 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) engaged in a 64-day strike for improved wages, working conditions, and union recognition.

Loeb had served previously as the head of the sanitation division (as the elected Public Works Commissioner) and, during his tenure, oversaw grueling work conditions, including dangerous faulty equipment and vehicles, no city-issued uniforms, no sick pay, no overtime, no time off, no hygienic requirements for the disposal of garbage (which was left curbside in buckets that leaked and smelled), no restrooms, and no grievance procedure for the numerous occasions on which they were underpaid.

The union, which had been granted a charter by AFSCME in 1964, had attempted a strike in 1966, but failed in large part because workers were unable to arouse the support of Memphis’ religious community or middle class.

Sanitation workers, led by garbage-collector-turned-union-organizer T. O. Jones, and supported by the international president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Jerry Wurf, demanded recognition of their union, better safety standards, and a decent wage.

King believed the struggle in Memphis exposed the need for economic equality and social justice that he hoped his Poor People’s Campaign would highlight nationally.

The strike might have ended on February 22, when the City Council, pressured by a sit-in of sanitation workers and their supporters, voted to recognize the union and recommended a wage increase.

The following day, after police used sticks, kicks, punches, rifle butts, mace, and tear gas against nonviolent demonstrators marching to City Hall, Memphis’ black community was galvanized.

King left Memphis the following day, but Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s (SCLC) James Bevel and Ralph Abernathy remained to help organize the protest and work stoppage.

Police followed demonstrators back to the Clayborn Temple, entered the church, released tear gas inside the sanctuary, and clubbed people as they lay on the floor to get fresh air.

[2] Loeb himself eventually left Memphis and moved to Forrest City, Arkansas,[2] some 50 miles westward in St. Francis County where he lived on a large family estate.