South Carolina S 320: 1969 MUSC nurses' aides strike

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 320 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 05, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 320

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A senate RESOLUTION

TO REMEMBER AND HONOR THE courageous black hospital 
workers who organized, and carried out, the 1969 nurseS' AIDES STRIKE at the 
medical university of south carolina.

Whereas, the 1969 
nurses' aides strike was considered by many to be the most disruptive labor 
battle since the 1930s. It was much more than a labor struggle; it was a 
struggle for civil rights. The catalyst for Black hospital workers to organize 
occurred when a white head nurse would not give five "nonprofessional" Black 
workers the customary access to patients' charts. The Black workers therefore 
refused to work and were fired the next day; and

Whereas, the five asked 
Mary Moultrie, a Black nurse's aide, to help them. She talked with Bill 
Saunders, a factory worker, activist, and community liaison with the local 
office of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and Isaiah Bennett, 
a veteran union organizer. In 1968, Mary Moultrie and a few associates began to 
organize a grassroots campaign to unionize the nurses' aides at MCH. Moultrie, 
who grew up in Charleston, had spent several years working at a hospital in New 
York City. During her time in the North, she earned her Licensed Practical 
Nurse certificate. However, MCH refused to acknowledge her certification 
despite her experience, because of the color of her skin, and forced her to 
accept a low-paying nurse's aide position; and

Whereas, at the time, 
there were no Black physicians or Black medical school students at the 
hospital. Black workers were all forced into low-paying manual jobs, such as 
maintenance and kitchen staff. The Black nurses' aides made $1.30/hour, while 
their white counterparts made the federal minimum wage, $1.60/hour. 
Additionally, they were exposed to daily derogatory terms, such as "monkey 
wrenches," and were denied access to the medical charts of patients for whom they 
were instructed to provide care, despite the danger this meant for the patients 
themselves; and

Whereas, after multiple 
attempts to have their complaints taken seriously, workers occupied the office 
of MCH President William McCord to demand that their voices be heard. An agreed-upon 
hospital meeting fell apart when dozens of uninvited workers arrived, McCord 
did not attend, and an administrator prohibited discussion of unions. Workers 
occupied McCord's office until the Charleston police chief ordered them to 
leave. Twelve participants were fired: Moultrie, Louise Brown, Andrew Daniels, 
Rosalie Fields, Priscilla Gladden, Mary Grimes, Helen Husser, Margaret Kelly, 
Annie Morris Lee, Vera Smalls, Virginia Stanley, and Hazel White; and

Whereas, this sparked a 
strike nearly 400-strong that would last for 113 days, mobilizing up to 10,000 
people for a protest on Mother's Day. We honor the participants for having had 
the courage to fight for change; and

Whereas, further, we 
gratefully honor the late Coretta Scott King for her pivotal role in being the 
face of this boycott, and we express our deepest gratitude to the late Maude E. 
Callen, without whom there would have never been a Black nurse. Mrs. Callen was 
granted numerous awards during her lifetime, including the Order of the 
Palmetto, and quietly became the foundational pillar of all Black persons 
within the healthcare profession. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate:

That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, remember and honor 
the courageous Black hospital workers who organized, and carried out, the 1969 
nurses' aides strike at the Medical University of South Carolina.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on February 05, 2025 at 02:32 PM