Ronnie Thompson (Georgia Politician) - Nerve Gas and Unionization

Nerve Gas and Unionization

Thompson was the subject of national attention in August 1970, when the United States Army transported nerve gas from Alabama and Kentucky through Macon en route for disposal in the ocean off the North Carolina coast. Thompson tried to have the shipment diverted around Macon. Democratic Governor Lester G. Maddox, meanwhile, sided with the Army and vowed that he would be willing to ride with the shipment when it passed through Georgia to demonstrate the safety of the mission. Ultimately, the Army met with Thompson to try to allay his fears, and the gas reached its destination.

In 1969, during Thompson's first term, municipal sanitation workers asked the city to organize through the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees union. Thompson rejected unionization as a concept and declared that the City of Macon was already paying employees all that tight budgets would permit. Workers went on strike, and Thompson dismissed them and used city prisoners to collect the garbage. After some five weeks, the strike ended, and Thompson rehired many of the workers on his own terms.