Strikes and lockouts

Action Coalition of Strikers Records

drice — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 12:09:15 -0500

The Action Coalition of Strikers (ACOS) was a rank-and-file group of strikers and their families who were active during the Detroit Newspaper Strike. Representing reporters, editors, pressmen, and truck drivers, the coalition opposed the newspaper union leadership and their proposed back-to-work offer and instead pressed forward with a campaign to fight to restore all lost jobs. They sponsored peaceful and disciplined mass demonstrations in support of the strikers, and published the weekly Detroit Sunday Journal from 1995-1999, selling copies throughout metro Detroit. They sought to win the broader labor movement’s participation in their struggle, and did enjoy continued support from other local and regional labor unions.

The records document the coalition’s activities from 1994-2001. Particular focus is given to the strikers' fight against replacement workers in an effort to bring economic, political and moral pressure on the newspaper companies (Gannett and Knight-Ridder) involved in the labor dispute. The records document ACOS strike participation through correspondence, court rulings, evidence of strikers' activities, publications, news clippings, and visual materials such as buttons, stickers, posters, and photographs.

AFL-CIO Metropolitan Detroit Records

drice — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:27:18 -0500

The American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) Metropolitan Detroit is the central organization for all Michigan AFL-CIO unions that have locals in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties. Their records pertain to activities specifically in Wayne County, prior to the merger of the three county councils in 1986, including those of its former presidents Frank Martel (1948-1956), Al Barbour (1958-1967) and its former vice-president Alex Fuller (1959-1967). The records reflect the important role played in offering financial assistance to organizing drives, ending factional and jurisdictional disputes, and supporting political candidates

AFSCME Communications Department Records

jruss — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 14:06:22 -0400

AFSCME has produced a regularly published magazine since its inception. Publication duties for this organ and other materials were accomplished by the Education and Publications Department for the first twenty years of AFSCME’s existence. The 1954 Convention, however, passed Resolution 14, establishing a Publications and Public Relations Department. This new department would continue to publish the AFSCME magazine and other materials and would also take on new media public relations duties both at headquarters, and importantly, in the field. Recognizing that current field staff’s duties did not include crafting AFSCME’s message during organizing campaigns and strikes, it was hoped that the new department would provide skilled public relations professionals on the ground. The new department was created on April 1, 1956. The Publications and Public Relations Department existed until 1971 when the name was changed to the Public Affairs Department. This existed until 2011 when the name was changed again to the Communications Department.

The AFSCME Communications Department Records document the public activities of the Department, AFSCME International, and AFSCME officials. Records include speech transcripts; press releases; surveys and polls; documents related to AFSCME biennial conventions such as transcripts of proceedings, correspondence, and planning documents; correspondence; publications; meeting minutes; clippings; photographs, slides, and negatives; audio and video recordings; and posters.

AFSCME Local 1733: Memphis, Tennessee Records

jruss — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:40:48 -0400

Sanitation workers in AFSCME Local 1733 in Memphis, Tennessee led a strike in 1968 to gain union recognition. The strike lasted for 65 days and garnered national attention as Local 1733's campaign for labor rights became fused with the struggle for civil rights. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. lent his support to the strikers by visiting Memphis and leading marches. While there, on April 4, 1968, King was assassinated. The strike was settled soon after King's death. Local 1733 went on to wage other campaigns for workers' rights, including a push to raise wages for public employees in the summer of 1969, a school boycott in the fall of 1969 that corresponded to the NAACP's drive for more racially diverse representation on the Memphis City Council, and a push to unionize workers at St. Joseph Hospital in the fall of 1969.

The vast majority of this collection consists of newspaper clippings that follow these campaigns in both local and national publications. Some additional material relating to the strikers' strategies and the organizations formed to support the strikers such as Community on the Move for Equality (C.O.M.E.) and Memphis U.S.A. also appears.

Dearborn Federation of Teachers Local 681 Records

drice — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:22:20 -0400

Part of the national American Federation of Teachers and statewide Michigan Federation of Teachers, the Dearborn Federation of Teachers, was chartered on February 28, 1945. Twenty years later, in1965, Michigan passed the Public Employee Relations Act; a law making organization and collective bargaining legal for public employees. Members of the union serve at four high schools, seven middle schools, 21 elementary schools, a community college and one early learning center within the city of Dearborn and Dearborn Heights.

The collection consists of materials related to the organization and activities of the Dearborn Federation of Teachers. The bulk of the collection is comprised of DFT subject files. The files cover topics such as the 1967 strike, the decline in enrollment that lead to surplus teacher layoffs, implementation of peer-review, the increase in the Arabic speaking population, and the schools’ efforts to increase bilingual education. The Organization Files series includes board and general meetings, contracts, elections, bargaining and negotiations, and some national conventions. The Fordson High series consists of materials from the high school, collected by John Fowler, reflecting his role in the school, DFT and in the Social Studies department, and includes the activities of students and other teachers.

Local 1175: Alaska Federation of Teachers Records

dgolodner — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:21:02 -0500

The Alaska Federation of Teachers Local 1175, originally named the Alaska State Employees Association, formed in 1959 before state employees were allowed to bargain collectively. In 1972 Alaska passed a public employee relation act giving the ASEA the power to bargain for its members. In 1988 the association joined the AFT. The records contain information on the 1978 strike; the decertification and joining of the AFT campaign, membership information, executive board minutes, and legal issues pertaining to public employees in Alaska.

Michigan Federation of Teachers Records

dgolodner — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 14:23:35 -0400

Parts 1 and 2 consist of correspondence, minutes, and reports. Subjects include Administrative Board meetings; American Federation of Teachers; conventions; Detroit Federation of Teachers; Executive Council meetings; Haven Hill conferences; legislative lobbying activities; membership campaigns; metropolitan teachers' institutes; Michigan AFL-CIO Council; Michigan Constitutional Convention (1961); teachers' salary and fringe benefits surveys; treasurer reports; White House Conference on Children and Youth (1960). Correspondents include Detroit city officials, Michigan congressmen and state officials, and national congressmen and officials including John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Most of the letters are answers to invitations for speaking engagements.
Part III deals mostly with the efforts to organize teachers during the 1960s and 1970s and dealing with the strikes that accompany labor disputes which is represented in the series Locals. There is ample amount of information about the American Federation of Teachers growth and inner workings during the 1960s and 1970s in the convention files; within these files there are not only basic convention materials but also notes from committee work and flyers from various factions within the AFT. MFT was a part of policy in education finances, assessments of teachers and teacher centers and is reflected in files dealing with the department of education and the like. Part III covers a broad range of topics with specific details on education reform in the 1970s, collective bargaining issues for teachers, political structures in Michigan and various issues on civil rights in Michigan, particularly the bussing of students. Series five contains photographs and audio recordings.

AFT Office of the President Records

dgolodner — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:06:07 -0400

Minutes, correspondence, reports, publications covering the president's office of Carl Megel and predominantly Charlie Cogen and David Selden. Important subjects are teacher strikes, contract negotiations, school desegregation, Oceanhill-Brownsville, education legislation, job stress, teacher centers.

The records are divided into two parts.

American Federation of Teachers: Northeast Regional Office Records

dgolodner — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:49:22 -0400

These records represent roughly a decade’s worth of general business including correspondence with state offices, meeting minutes, conference materials, policy documents and other items relevant to educational issues and topics for locals under the Northeast Regional Office. There is also valuable information on Education Alternatives Inc in Hartford, Connecticut and in Baltimore, Maryland.

Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee Records

drice — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:53:57 -0500

AWOC was chartered by the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) to organize farm workers in California. During its seven-year existence, AWOC called many strikes against growers and farm labor contractors and achieved some success in raising wages of farm laborers. Their records reflect these activities until their merger with the National Farm Workers Association to form the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO in 1966.

ALPA Herndon EAL Strike Center Records

srafferty — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 14:31:51 -0400

The Herndon EAL Strike Center Records document the 265 day strike on Eastern Airlines (EAL) from March 4, 1989 - November 23, 1989. During this period 3400 of 4200 EAL pilots went out on sympathy strike along with the flight attendants represented by the Transportation Workers Union (TWU), both of whom voted to honor the International Association of Machinists (IAM) strike of Eastern Airlines. The Herndon EAL Strike Center Records focus on the records of EAL Council 142 located in Herndon, VA, but also include EAL wide communications. The records are made up mainly of the daily fax messages sent to each EAL strike center every day for strike coordinators, and pilots and their families. The updates included information on strike developments, negotiations, media coverage, and research to counter company information. They also provided information about benefits, family awareness blocks, and writings to keep morale up. In addition there is information on Operation Love Song, the IAM/ALPA/TWU travel agent program, MEC updates, and strike/picket information and procedures. Also included are pilot letters, writings, songs and poetry, and cartoons created during the strike.

ALPA Houston Field Office Records

bbealmear — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 11:55:00 -0500

This collection is from ALPA’s Master Executive Council (MEC) office in Houston. The records consist of such documents as correspondence, contract negotiations, strike materials, and bankruptcy proceedings. There are files from several Local Executive Councils (LEC), including #61 and #131, which represented the pilots of Eastern Airlines (EAL) and Delta Airlines (DAL), respectively. One of the subjects covered is the Continental Airlines (CAL) strike of 1983-1985. The fax and Telecopier folders contain a variety of documents, while the Telex folders are chiefly comprised of messages and meeting notices. The office closed in 2014.

Bakery & Confectionery Workers International Union Polish Local 77 Records

aergas — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 08:36:33 -0400

The Bakery and Confectionery Workers' International Union formed in 1969 from the union of the Bakery and Confectionery Workers International Union of America (formed in 1886) and the American Bakery and Confectionery Workers’ International Union (formed in 1957). Local 77 in Detroit was organized and chartered in 1916 by immigrants from Poland under the official name Polish Local No. 77 of the International Union of Bakers and Confectioners, Labor Federation of America. This collection documents official business of the union, its history, and its membership, mainly through contracts, memorabilia and meeting minutes.

Charles Beckman Papers

abarker — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:39:03 -0400

Charles Beckman served as United Auto Workers Local 45 (Fisher Body Plant, Cleveland) President for eighteen consecutive terms. His tenure included the Cleveland plant sit-down strike which served as a catalyst for the historic Flint sit-down strike of 1936-1937. The papers of Mr. Beckman reflect his work with Local 45 and its affiliated organizations and, to a lesser degree, his involvement in political and social issues, including civil rights, anti-fascism and anti-war efforts.

Joe Brown Papers

drice — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 22:19:34 -0400

A one-time reporter for the Federated Press, Mr. Brown gathered a variety of items for a proposed book on unionism in the auto industry. Clippings, correspondence, handbills, and miscellaneous publications relate to the rise of auto unions during the 1930s and 1940s. Nearly every topic of importance for that time and subject is covered, including sit-downs, drives to organize various plants, and strikes. The scrapbooks contain mostly Detroit newspaper clippings about auto unions.

Box 23, Folder "Strikes and Lockouts (by Industry): Glass Companies is unavailable.

Raphael and Olga Brown Papers

abarker — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:46:58 -0400

Union organizers for the American Federation of Silk Workers (AFSW) in New Jersey, the papers of Raphael and Olga Brown relate to their work as union organizers and the textile strikes of 1933-1934.

Monroe S. Causley, Jr. Papers

drice — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:53:08 -0400

Papers consist of materials related to the utility strikes that took place in the Saginaw Valley region of Michigan in the late 1930s. The materials consist mostly of news clippings from various local and national newspapers that covered the strikes in some detail. Monroe Causley Jr.’s father was involved in the strikes and was accused of intentionally damaging electrical equipment and utility poles. Transcripts of his court case can be found in the collection. Much of the material was likely used for Causley Jr.’s 1985 book, Power Switches and Power Plays: A Brief History of Utility Strikes in Michigan's Saginaw Valley, 1937-1939.

Collection is unprocessed.

Coalition of Labor Union Women: Metro-Detroit Chapter Records

drice — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:36:19 -0500

The Metro-Detroit Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women was founded as the Wayne County Chapter of CLUW at the Southeastern Michigan Organizing Conference in July 1974. Their goal was to bring together as broad a representation as possible of union women living or working in Wayne County to identify common problems and develop union-centered programs to deal with them. Their records reflect activities concerning strike assistance, affirmative action, ERA, and sexual harassment.

Cook County College Teachers Union, Local 1600 Records

dgolodner — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:13:04 -0400

The Cook County College Teachers Union, AFT Local 1600, began to organize the faculty of the City Colleges of Chicago in 1965 and won official recognition in 1966. This collection represents a comprehensive record of the CCCTU’s administrative operations, its meetings, strikes, and publications. Also included in the collection are news clippings, photos, videos, and various memorabilia from the CCCTU’s history. Personal and official correspondence from the CCCTU’s longtime president, Norman G. Swenson, can be found in the collection as well. This includes letters of support sent to him and his family when he was jailed during the CCCTU’s 1975 strike. There is a complete record of the collective bargaining agreements between the Board of CCC District No. 508 and the CCCTU in the collection.

Ellen Creager Papers

drice — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:40:38 -0500

Ellen Creager (b. 1956), a Detroit Free Press reporter, first joined the press as a copy editor in 1983 after earning her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Michigan State University; ultimately she was promoted to the position of general assignment reporter in the Features Department. The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News employees engaged in a strike against Gannett and Knight-Ridder newspaper chains beginning in July of 1995. Creager was working part-time when the strike began because she had four young children at home. Full-time reporters were called back to work after the strike effectively ended in February of 1997 with the unions' unconditional offer to return, but Creager's part-time position had been eliminated. In early 1998, Creager applied to return as a full-time reporter when a position opened in the Features Department; she returned to work nearly three years after the strike began. As of 2012, Creager continues as a reporter for the Features Department at the Detroit Free Press.

The Ellen Creager Papers document the strike from its beginning on July 13, 1995 until December, 1996, before the unions voted to return to work. Materials include news clippings, strike handbills and flyers, publication copies of The Detroit Sunday Journal and The Alliance, interview notes, correspondence, and hand-made picket signs.

Detroit Newspaper Strike Collection

dgolodner — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 11:11:17 -0500

The Detroit Newspaper Strike started on July 13, 1995 with six labor unions and around 2,500 workers striking against the Detroit's two primary newspapers, the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press. The strike ended on February 14, 1997 and was finally resolved in court three years later with the federal courts reversing the NLRB ruling that the newspapers had engaged in unfair labor practices. During the strike, there were local boycotts, legal charges of unfair labor practices and violence. The newspapers continued to print papers while the strikers created their own newspaper called the Detroit Sunday Journal. By the end of 1995 those on strike started to cross the picket line and return to work, the newspapers hired replacement workers and began to print their papers in Toledo, away from strikers
blocking the printing facilities. After the strike was called off by the unions, management for the papers said they would not fire the replacement workers and only hired back strikers a few at a time.
This collection contains materials from three different strikers who deposited their materials at the Reuther Library.

Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall, Inc. Records

drice — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:13:58 -0500

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) grew out of an attempt by a group of ten young women in 1914 to provide Detroit with culture. A permanent home, Orchestra Hall, was built in 1919 by C. Howard Crane. The DSO performs regular subscription and special concerts, as well as provides a number of special events and programs outside of Orchestra Hall. The records of the DSO relate its administration, marketing, and public relations, as well as the orchestra's community outreach, cultural activities, and influence of its music directors.

Detroit Typographical Union No. 18 Records

drice — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:53:55 -0500

Detroit Typographical Union (DTU) No. 18 was established in 1852 in conjunction with the establishment of the National Typographical Union (later known as the International Typographical Union or ITU). Throughout its history the union has represented three major dailies: The Detroit News, The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit Times as well as suburban newspaper publications and non-newsprint publishers of the Detroit metropolitan area.

The DTU records document its administration and activities from the turn of the 19th century, including strikes, grievances, and attempted mergers. The Detroit Mailers Union is also documented.

The portion of the records processed as of January 2024 includes DTU and other union contract booklets; ITU Books of Laws; various publications such as The ITU Review, the Typographical Journal, and the No. 18 Reporter; some materials from the Communications Workers of America (CWA); souvenir books from ITU conventions, 1940s-1980s; a small number of photographs and artifacts; a bound volume of the Detroit Reporter strike newspaper from 1955-1956; a scrapbook of clippings from suburban Detroit newspapers from 1966.

Nancy E. Dunn Papers

drice — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:41:54 -0500

Nancy E. Dunn, a Detroit Free Press copy editor and journalist, was heavily involved during the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News newspaper strike in the 1990s. Dunn not only participated on the picket line, but also acted as a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Council of Newspaper Unions. The Nancy E. Dunn Papers document the strike/lockout from its inception in July 1995 through December 2000. Documents include administrative and audiovisual materials that reflect the strikers’ activities. These consist of court documents, correspondence, labor issues, status reports, newspaper clippings, and associated labor unions.

John Eldon Papers

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:25:25 -0500

Knights of Labor traveling card (1883) and scrapbooks of newspaper clippings (1938-40 and 1947-59) collected by Mr. Eldon, who was a member of Briggs Local 212 of Detroit and was on the staff of the Education Department of the UAW International (1937-40), and International representative to the Canadian Region of the UAW (1940-59). Subjects include UAW organizing and negotiations; NLRB and labor legislation; Briggs and Chrysler strikes (1939), Father Coughlin; Homer Martin and UAW factionalism; Canadian labor (1947-49); and Nikita Khrushchev's visit to the U.S. (1959).

Flint Labor Records

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:20:46 -0500

Subjects include: Flint sit-down; Flint Trolley Coach strikes

Richard T. Frankensteen Papers

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:37:50 -0500

Mr. Frankensteen served as president of the Automotive Industrial Workers Association, one of the independent attempts to organize the auto industry in the early 1930's. He later served as president of UAW Dodge Local 3. In 1937 he was elected a vice-president of the UAW-CIO. Correspondence, speeches, clippings, and other materials on the Ryan Aeronautical Company Strike (1944); the National War Labor Board; North American Strike (1941); factionalism within the UAW-CIO; activities of the UAW during the late 1930s and early 1940s, and Mr. Frankensteen's unsuccessful campaign for mayor of Detroit in 1945 are included. Among the correspondents are George Addes, Adolph Germer, Homer Martin, and Philip Murray. An oral history interview with Mr. Frankensteen is available.

Phillips Garman Papers

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:45:24 -0500

Material by Mr. Garman, who worked with the AFL in 1934 and with the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago in 1936. From 1938-41 he served as director of research for the International Printing Pressmens and Assistants Union; in 1941 he became the chief of the War Production Board's industrial relations section; in June, 1945 he was appointed co-chairman of the Wage Stabilization Board. Presently, Mr. Garman is teaching at the University of Illinois. Subjects include AFL's organizing of unskilled industrial workers (1934-36), especially auto workers; auto strikes; Auto Labor Board (1934-35); company unions (1934-36); CIO formation (1934-35); union factionalism, (1934-35); GM Strike (1945-46); government administration of coal mines (1946); Labor-Management Conference called by President Truman (November, 1945); and unionization of newspaper and publishing industries (1907-42). Major correspondents are William Collins, Francis Dillon, and Leo Wolman.

Gerry Meister Papers

dgolodner — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:33:30 -0500

Gerry Meister joined the San Francisco Federation of Teachers (SFFT) Local 61 in 1963 and became a Building Rep in George Washington High School where she remained until retirement in 2001. During her time with the SFFT, she participated heavily in activism and the organization of several major strikes during the late 1960s and 1970s. Gerry played a role in the bargaining wars until the two unions merged November 6, 1989 to create the United Educators of San Francisco. The Meister’s papers are comprised primarily of records detailing two decades worth of union activity including flyers, surveys, meeting minutes, correspondence and other documents relevant to the on-going events.

William Goldmann Papers

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:58:53 -0500

Clippings, correspondence, briefs, affidavits, notes, contracts, minutes, and leaflets collected by Mr. Goldmann, who was president (1940-46) and member of the Shop Bargaining Committee of UAW Local 230 (Chrysler- Los Angeles), and International representative to UAW Region 6 (Western US). Subjects include the conspiracy trial of Local 230 members (1939); LaFollette Senate Committee Hearings; and Local 230 Strike (1957). George Addes is a principal correspondent.

Helen Bowers Papers

dgolodner — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:56:31 -0400

Helen Marie Newman Bowers was born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin on May 16, 1908. After graduating from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, she began teaching art in Detroit, Michigan in 1933 and quickly got involved with the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT), Local 231. She left the teaching profession in 1958 to become the executive secretary of the DFT. Together with DFT President Mary Ellen Riordan, Detroit teachers won collective bargaining in 1964. Helen Bowers won duty-free lunch hours for elementary teachers, and conceived of “demonstration picketing” before schools opened in the morning to raise awareness to the community about why teachers were demanding collective bargaining. Ms. Bowers served on the Executive Board and became editor of the DFT newspaper, The Detroit Teacher.

The papers of Helen Bowers reflect her work with the DFT and education reform initiatives. This involves pre-collective bargaining rights in dealing with academic freedom, civil liberties as well as a living wage for teachers. Communism files contain a thorough documentation of the Maki Case trial from clippings from the three Detroit newspapers. The collection also contains very useful information about how the union gained power after collective bargaining was won. Their influence in education issues is seen in issues about accountability, decentralization and student rights.

William Henkelman Papers

drice — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:13:00 -0500

William Henkelman served in WWI as a member of the American expedition to Russia, Michigan 'Polar Bear' unit. He became active in the Industrial Workers of the World after the war. His papers reflect his service in Russia and involvement in the IWW.

Howard Hursey Papers

dgolodner — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:44:44 -0400

Howard Hursey was a national representative for the American Federation of Teachers. This collection documents his time as an organizer from the 1960s through the early 1970s. The American Federation of Teachers experienced huge growth in membership during this time and the collection represents this and the strain on AFT workers. Mostly Hursey organized in the Southern United States, but there are materials from Los Angeles and Illinois and points in-between. The correspondences contain contracts, meeting minutes, reports, notes about organizing and issues facing various locals. There are also internal communications about organizing strategies, the growth of AFT, and the treatment of workers in the AFT which is reflected in the Committee for National Representatives.

Dolores Huerta Papers

drice — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:04:27 -0400

Dolores Huerta champions the rights of farm workers and Latinos. As a young teacher her experiences in classrooms filled with hungry children of migrant farm workers led her to believe that an even greater need was organizing farm workers. Dolores first met Cesar Chavez in the late 1950s while organizing farm workers under the name of the Agricultural Workers Association. In 1962 they founded the National Farm Workers Association in Delano, California. Today, Dolores Huerta continues to place La Causa first. She remains a boundlessly energetic and charismatic leader for the United Farm Workers union as an executive board member, union negotiator and lecturer. In addition, Huerta has been honored with numerous awards across the country for her work as an advocate for the rights of women, immigrants and people of color.

The papers of Dolores Huerta primarily deal with boycotts, strikes, and the ongoing struggle for workers’ rights and organizations involved in such matters.

Industrial Workers of the World Records

drice — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 16:44:51 -0400

The Industrial Workers of the World was founded in 1905 and is a member-run union for all workers. The IWW organizes all workers producing the same goods or services into one union instead of pooling them by skill or trade. Numbered among its members (known popularly as Wobblies) are lumberjacks, miners, farmhands (especially migrant workers), sailors, and workers in textile mills. Since their founding, the IWW has made significant contributions to labor struggles around the world. The union is proud of its long-standing tradition of fierce defense of the first amendment and breaking down barriers of race, ethnicity, and gender. Since it's founding in Chicago, the IWW has moved its headquarters around the country.

Part 1 includes minutes and proceedings, trial records and evidence, newspapers, pamphlets, poems, cartoons, songs, and correspondence. Subjects of interest include the Centralia Conspiracy; criminal syndicalism; the Everett Massacre; Free Speech fights; organization of farm workers; labor conditions; the controversy between craft and industrial unionism; government raids and seizures; trials of various members; foreign IWW administrations; political prisoners; GEB 1960's-1970's; conventions 1970's; Junior Wobblies; Houston Branch; and information on such figures as Vincent St. John. Correspondents include T.J. Bogard, Arthur Boose, Richard Brazier, Frank Cederval, A.S. Embree, William D. Haywood, Claude Irwin, Joyce Kornbluh, John A. Law, George Lucas, Albert Prashner, Rudolf Rocker, Vincent St. John, Nicolaas Steelink, Fred W. Thompson, William Unger, Walt Westman, and Claire Whitaker.

Part 2 of the Industrial Workers of the World Collection contains General Executive Board correspondence from the 1960s and 1970s and minutes, newsletters and correspondence from several branch locations and foreign administrations covering the same time period. Also included are Constitutional General Convention minutes from the 1970s, membership dues booklets, songs, cartoons, poetry, articles, legal case files, and a large assortment of English and foreign-language pamphlets and leaflets. Of particular interest are the reports of undercover private detectives posing as IWW members who investigated IWW organizing among Arizona miners in 1923.

Part 3 include mainly correspondence, reports, and photographs that document the union’s activities and goals primarily during the time they were headquartered in Ypsilanti. Since the organization is global, some reports come from places as far as Sweden and Germany. Of particular note are copies of Junior Wobblies cards dating from the 1930s.

Content of Box 158, Folder "Cigar Makers Meeting" is unavailable.

Joseph Jablonower Papers

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:39:37 -0500

Mr. Jablonower began teaching in the New York Public School System in 1910. The trial of three New York teachers (1917-18) led Mr. Jablonower to join other teachers founding the New York City Teachers Union, associated with the New York Teachers Guild and the American Federation of Teachers. His papers include correspondence, speeches, clippings, and other materials on his appointment to the Board of Examiners (1938); the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture; his aid to European refugees, and his receiving the Linville Award (1959). Other important subjects covered include communism in teachers' unions, DeWitt Clinton case, 1960 New York teachers strike, progressive education, and the United Federation of Teachers. Among the correspondents are Charles Cogen, Jacob Greenberg, and Arthur Levitt.

Robert Kanter Papers

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:05:12 -0500

Newspaper articles collected by Mr. Kanter, who served as Strike Committee chairman during the Cadillac sit-downs (1937) worked for Detroit West Side Local 174 (1937-39), and fought in the Battle of the Overpass. The Homer Martin split (1939) and the Ford Strike (1941) are covered.

Kenosha Labor Records

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:14:50 -0500

Kenosha Labor is the newspaper of the labor movement in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The papers of this journal include materials on UAW Local 72 at American Motors in Kenosha; strikes; the Trade Union Unity League; WPA; and the Wisconsin Employment Relations Board.

Harvey Kitzman Papers

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:23:21 -0500

Three scrapbooks containing clippings, correspondence, union rally and meeting notices, strike bulletins, flyers, newspaper ads and photographs, and pamphlets concerning the activities of UAW Local 180 (J. I. Case Company in Racine, Wisconsin). Mr. Kitzman began work at the J. I. Case Company in 1929, and in 1937 was elected president of the newly created local, a position he held until 1947. In that year, he set up the Agricultural Implement Department of the UAW, serving as director of the department until July, 1949 when he was elected director of UAW Region 10. Mr. Kitzman was also elected for two terms, the first in 1939, as president of the Wisconsin CIO. The scrapbooks deal with Local 180's contract negotiation activities, particularly the strikes of 1938, 1945-47, and 1960. No available guide.

Dorothy Kraus Papers

drice — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:30:40 -0400

Dorothy Kraus, wife of Henry Kraus, had a Jewish working class socialist family background. When married to Henry, she helped assist in local Detroit UAW strikes by organizing strike kitchens and leading the Emergency Brigade. Her efforts led to the formation of the UAW Women's Auxiliary.

Material in Part I of the Dorothy Kraus Collection relates mainly to the early activities of the UAW Women's Auxiliary, attempts to control the cost of living during the Depression, and to anti-Semitism. Papers in Part II detail Dorothy’s early life in Poland, and contain personal notebooks, correspondence and manuscripts of her later writings.

Henry Kraus Papers

drice — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:36:01 -0400

Mr. Kraus was the first editor of the UAW's newspaper The United Auto Worker (later changed to Solidarity). He was active in the early attempts by the UAW (first under the AFL and later under the CIO) to organize the auto industry. Files for the late 1920s and early 1930s cover the attempts by groups, including the Auto Workers Union of the Trade Union Unity League, to organize auto workers, and discuss such events as the Murray Body Strike (1929); the Ford Hunger March (1932); and the Briggs Strike (1933). There are many items pertaining to the AFL's work in the auto industry, such as material on the threatened auto strike of March 1934, the Toledo Auto-Lite and Chevrolet strikes of 1934 and 1935, and conferences and conventions of the UAW-AFL. The collection also has many files of the AFL's Detroit office for the early 1930s. Particularly well covered are the activities of the UAW-CIO from 1936 to 1940, including the South Bend Convention, the sit-downs, early attempts to organize Ford, and the Homer Martin controversy (resulting in the split of 1939). The Flint Sit-Down Strike and factionalism in the UAW are particularly well documented. Correspondents include nearly every major AFL, CIO, and UAW leader of the period. Among them are John Brophy, F. J. Dillon, Adolph Germer, William Green, John L. Lewis, Homer Martin, Rose Pesotta, Walter Reuther, and R. J. Thomas. Public figures include Charles Coughlin and Frank Murphy. Nine reels of microfilm complement content in Part I and are described in a separate guide.

Part 3 contains manuscripts, notes and research materials from Kraus’s three major books, as well as materials from his other books and writings including those on medieval art. Also included are transcripts of oral histories from a variety of individuals involved in the labor movement, especially those from the 1937 Flint Sit-Down Strike.

Labor Notes Records

kschmeling — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 12:28:13 -0400

"Labor Notes" is a publication of the Labor Education and Research Project, a Detroit-based publication reporting on a wide range of activity among rank-and-file union members. The publication is well-known for writing about opposition to joint labor-management programs, concessions, partnership agreements, resisting sexual harassment, and the fight for a shorter work week.

Part 1 of this collection consists primarily of various printed materials documenting dissident autoworker and steelworker movements in the 1970s and 1980s.

Part 2 consists of research materials assembled by "Labor Notes" for use in their magazines and other publications. The topics covered include both national and international labor issues, and include information on the automotive industry, various labor strikes, contract negotiations, concessions, team concept and joint labor-management programs, sexual harassment, and more. Also included are records from various conferences and workshops prepared by the "Labor Notes" staff.

Livonia Education Association Collection

dgolodner — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:28:04 -0500

Livonia Education Association was founded in 1945. The collection contains information from 1945 to 1968. It contains information on two strikes that the association had in the 1960s as well as general office files and organization files. Grievances are may contain information relevant to the issues of the strikes.

Jakub L. Lublinski Papers

pneirink — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 12:45:08 -0400

Solidarnosc (Solidarity) was a trade union founded in 1980 and was the first to receive legal acknowledgment from Poland. Membership of Solidarnosc quickly grew and this large expansion of the union led to push-back from the Polish government who declared martial law at the end of 1981 to assert more control and with the aim of weakening the union. Despite these efforts, Solidarnosc continued to persist in its non-violent efforts for reform. The end of the 1980s brought about negotiations between the Communist government and Solidarnosc that led to free elections. Solidarnosc, and its leader Lech Walesa, are credited with having a large role in ending the Communist goverment rule in Poland. The Jakub Lublinski Papers contain material collected and written by Lublinski following the rise of the labor union movement in Poland between the years 1978-1981. Much of the collection is made up of photocopied writings and news articles. Radio transcripts and summaries from Radio Free Euorpe are also present in the collection. The majority of this collection material is written in Polish.

Bette Murphy Papers

aergas — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 10:34:44 -0400

An active member of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 148 (Douglas Aircraft-Long Beach), Bette Murphy was the first woman at Douglas to hold positions of supervisor and manufacturing engineer. Ms. Murphy’s papers document the affairs of Local 148 throughout her career.

Newspaper Guild Local 22: Detroit Records

drice — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:55:21 -0500

The Newspaper Guild, a national organization, initially began with the intent to be a professional organization more than a union. As such, the 1933 founders chose to call the group a “guild.” The Newspaper Guild Local 22 was an early local, established in 1934. Organizers were successful in establishing this local in Detroit by using sit-down strikes across the entire state. The Detroit Times and the Detroit Free Press were first to win bargaining recognition: The Times was first certified 1938 and the Free Press in 1939. Some members from the Detroit News enlisted but the News largely avoided organization by matching fringe and pay gains as the Times and Free Press won them through negotiations. When the Guild affiliated with the CIO in 1937, many members dropped out of the guild because they did not want to be part of a union. In the next thirty years the local saw its membership fluctuate. UAW and Michigan Catholic publishing employees swelled the ranks in the 1940s, but later the guild lost 400 members when the News bought the Times in 1959. Employees from the Pontiac Press, Royal Oak Daily Tribune, and Macomb Daily joined the guild in the 1960s and 1970s, but simultaneously Oakland Press and Mellus members left after lengthy strikes in the 1970s. The local also dealt with upheaval in the newspaper business during a downturn in the late 1980s. Most significantly, the News and Free Press filed a joint operations agreement, sharing space and equipment to ease some of the financial burden.

Part 1 of the Detroit Newspaper Guild papers reflect the local's activities and organization, as well as include documentation of the American Newspaper Guild.

Part 2 consist of materials related to the organization and activities of the local in Detroit. The bulk of the collection consists of papers from the daily operation of the guild, including board and general meetings, contracts, elections, bargaining and negotiations, Page One events, and locally held national conventions. Other widely covered topics include strikes and lockouts and the Joint Operations Agreement. Strike and lockout materials begin with the strike and lockout in 1962 and ending with the 1995 Detroit Newspapers strike. Joint Operations materials cover all facets of the agreement between the Detroit News and
Free Press from the late 1980s.

Newspaper Guild Local 47: St. Louis Records

drice — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:30:07 -0500

The St. Louis Newspaper Guild was founded by employees of several local newspapers. Their records reflect their activities as well as those of the American Newspaper Guild.

Francis O'Rourke Diary

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:03:57 -0500

Mr. O'Rourke participated in the sit-down at the Fisher Body Plant 2 in Flint, Michigan. His diary notes cover the entire period of the strike from December 30, 1936 to February 11, 1937. The seventeen pages consist of short entries for each day of that strike.

Victor and Bernice Pasche Papers

pneirink — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 10:50:46 -0500

Bernice Pasche (nee Morgan) was an International Representative for the American Newspaper Guild in the late 1930s. In 1939, she married Victor Pasche, a newspaper reporter, union official, organizer, and the first Secretary-Treasurer of the American Newspaper Guild. The Victor and Bernice Pasche Papers include correspondence, union contracts, American Newspaper Guild convention proceedings, and labor newspapers and clippings. It also contains labor ephemera, including pamphlets, flyers, and union membership cards. Materials detailing 1934-1935 Newark Ledger Strike and Pasche’s withdrawal from re-election as Secretary-Treasurer of the American Newspaper Guild are of particular significance.

Carl Person Papers

drice — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:28:09 -0500

Affidavits, correspondence, notes, proceedings, membership lists, and miscellaneous materials relating to the strike against the Illinois Central and Harriman Lines (1911-15); testimony, notes, proceedings, correspondence, and clippings pertaining to Mr. Person's trial for killing a strike-breaker (1914); correspondence, credentials, and other items pertaining to Mr. Person's expulsion from the International Association of Machinists (1916-20); strike bulletins; photographs; and memorabilia. The materials were collected by Mr. Person, who served as strike secretary during the 1911-15 Illinois Central Strike and as writer, editor, and distributor of the weekly strike bulletins. The U.S. Commission on Industrial Relations and strike-breaking are discussed. Among the correspondents are Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Carlo Tresca, and Woodrow Wilson.