Southern Labor Movement

The Bird was a vocal champion of labor organizing in Atlanta and the South, and its staff was often involved in both reporting on and participating in demonstrations and actions for labor rights. A prime example of this activity was the paper’s reporting on and support of the Atlanta Garbage Strike of 1970, a strike which lasted 36 days and was labeled a “slim victory” by the paper. Many other strikes were covered by The Bird, among them the Allied Food Strike of 1971, the Georgia Power Strike of 1972, and the Oneita Knitting Mills Strike of 1973. Throughout its run, the paper provided a voice for union organizing in a time when few other media outlets in the South were sympathetic to organized labor.