The 1974 Baltimore municipal strike was a strike action undertaken by different groups of municipal workers in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It was initiated by waste collectors seeking higher wages and better conditions. They were joined by sewer workers, zookeepers, prison guards, highway workers, recreation & parks workers, animal control workers, abandoned vehicles workers, and eventually by police officers. Trash piled up during the strike, and, especially with diminished police enforcement, many trash piles were set on fire. City jails were also a major site for unrest.
The Baltimore strike was prominent within a wave of public sector strikes across the United States.[1][2] All of the striking workers were members of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), a relatively radical and expanding national union. AFSCME President Jerry Wurf attained national notoriety for allegedly urging workers to "let Baltimore burn" if their demands were not met.[3][4]
^Cook, Louise (15 July 1974). "Workers' unrest interrupts municipal service". St. Petersburg Times. Associated Press. p. 4–A. Retrieved 5 August 2012. Labor unrest in scattered areas of the country is affecting a wide range of services—some of them vital. The most serious problems are in Baltimore, where police walked out Thursday night, joining 3,000 other city workers on picket lines, and in Ohio, where almost 2,000 prison guards and blue-collar state employees are on strike.
^"US flooded by great wave of strikes". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. 17 July 1974. p. 13. Retrieved 5 August 2012. The labor disputes constituted the biggest wave of strikes since the days after Second World War when millions of veterans moved back into the labor market.
^"'Public' Unions". Victoria Advocate. 5 August 1978. p. 4A. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
