Charleston Hospital Strike of 1969.

Another non-violent protest that Mrs. Jordan participated in was the Charleston Hospital Strike of 1969. The strike was organized after, “a group of twelve African American employees were fired from what was then known as the Medical College Hospital for the State of South Carolina, In March of 1969” (Charleston). After these twelve employes were fired, hundreds of fellow African American employees choose to conduct a strike in order to protest the unfair wages the hospital paid minorities and for the fired coworkers to gain their jobs back (Hospital Workers).  Mrs. Jordan said, “I had friends that worked at Medical University Hospital, they would pay them 50 cents to a dollar,  they were nurses aides, and they couldn’t survive of that.” The unfair wages was the main focus during the protest. Mrs. Jordan continues, “The lady that lead the strike was a LPN,  the hospital wouldn’t give her, her licenses, because they didn't want to pay her for that, so she lead the strike. All the black nurses, nurses aides, and the people that work in the kitchen, went on strike, and they didn’t go back to work; therefore, the patients suffered, Medical U. lost a lot of money.” According to Charleston Justice Journey, “The strike gained the attention of national labor and civil rights activists who brought their organizations in to assist. The strike went on for more than 100 days, lasting well into the summer of 1969”  (Hospital Workers). As a result of this strike, the hospital workers were rehired. She believes the Administration at Medical University gave into the protesters’ demands because they begun to lose money from the shortage of workers. The hospital strike was successful because African American workers were given raises and put in higher positions.  This strike was a successful because it brought local attention to the inequalities in the work field in Charleston, South Carolina.