Charleston Black Ministerial
Alliance Inc. History
The
Rev. Paul J. Gilmer founded the Charleston Black Ministerial Alliance in support of the City of Charleston's garbage workers
who were on strike for better working conditions and better job security. Rev. Gilmer was elected president and Rev.
C.E. Johnson was the first secretary. Charter members were Rev. Ronald English, Rev. R. A. Banks, Rev. Hollis Tatum,
Rev. L.R. Jones, Rev. Robert Calloway, Rev. J. C. Ealy, Rev. C. C. Corbett, Rev. A. G. Thomas, and Rev. Joseph Carter.
Founder/President,
Charleston Black Ministers' Alliance 1967-76
Note: History supplied by Mrs. Anna Gilmer
In 1970, only black men tossed
Charleston residents garbage into the backs of packer trucks. Only black men worked at the city's incinerator. Unhappy
with what they regarded as seperate and very unequal working conditions, the garbage workers went on strike. They wanted union
recognition, seniority protection, improved grievance procedures and uniforms, newspapers reported at the time.
A group
of black ministers threw their support behind the striking workers. The ministers had met before, but now they had a cause
that needed them, recalled the Rev. Paul J. Gilmer. The ministers named their group the Charleston Black Ministerial Alliance.
The strike lasted three days until city negotiators agreed to substantially all the strikers request. The city would provide
uniforms and rain gear. The men would not lose any money for the three days they missed, though they would be charged vacation
days for any lost time.
The next day, a saturday, the trucks rolled again, and the men picked up the accumulated garbage.
The agreement that a public employees union would represent the workers and that dues would be deducted from paychecks does
not appear to have held, Gilmer said.
One lasting legacy of the turmoil was the Charleston Black Ministerial Alliance,
which a few years later led the successful fight to integrate Rock Lake Pool, a privately owned pool that opened it's
doors to anyone with the price of admission -provided they did'nt have black skin.
