International labor activities

AFSCME Office of the Secretary-Treasurer: Gordon Chapman/Joseph Ames Records

jruss — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:47:43 -0500

This collection primarily covers the end of Gordon Chapman’s tenure as Secretary-Treasurer, and all of Joseph Ames’s tenure. These years saw turbulence in the International Union’s politics where founding incumbent president Arnold Zander faced challenges from an opposing faction called the Committee on Union Responsibility (COUR). COUR candidate Jerry Wurf won the presidency at the 1964 convention. Gordon Chapman held the office of Secretary-Treasurer. In 1966, Chapman retired due to poor health. He was replaced by Joseph Ames who had been President Wurf's assistant. Ames served as Secretary-Treasurer until 1972 when he became Judicial Panel Chairman, and William Lucy, then President Wurf's assistant, became Secretary-Treasurer.

The early records in this collection document the activities of President Zander's assistant Leo Kramer and COUR, illustrating their rival campaigns. The later records in this collection document the activities of the Office of the Secretary-Treasurer, including finances, conventions, International Executive Board meetings, correspondence and speeches, political activities, legislation, files on councils and locals, and files on various associations with which AFSCME had relationships.

Sam Fishman Papers

drice — Fri, 03 May 2013 12:40:58 -0400

Sam Fishman was born January 24, 1924 and spent the majority of his adult life involved with the labor movement in Michigan. He was originally an assembler and machinist for the Ford Motor Company and eventually became an official in UAW Local 400. He later was elected Vice-President of UAW Local 99 and then President of UAW Local 36 at the Ford Assembly Plant. Fishman would go on to serve as head of the UAW Community Action Program (CAP) for 12 years until his election as president of the Michigan State AFL-CIO in 1983. Fishman was heavily involved with the Democratic Party and was a dominant figure in not only Michigan, but also national politics during the late 1970s and 1980s. Fishman passed away in 1987.

The materials in the collection represent Fishman’s time in the UAW and AFL-CIO. There are also materials related to the Democratic Party in local, state and national elections. The bulk of the materials range from 1980 to 1984, when Fishman headed the UAW CAP and the MI AFL-CIO, and correspond to the 1980, 1982 and 1984 elections. Additionally there are materials related to Fishman’s interests in the Social Democrats and Israel.

Herman Rebhan Papers

drice — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:35:58 -0400

Herman Rebhan was first elected General Secretary of the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) in 1974 and served in that position until his retirement in 1989. Rebhan had previously served with the IMF as coordinator of its World Auto Council Department from 1966 to 1969. From 1969 to 1974 he served in the United Auto Workers (UAW) International Affairs Department, of which he became director in 1972. Prior to 1966, Rebhan served in other capacities with the UAW, working his way up from the shop floor. Rebhan was born in Germany in 1920 and went to the United States in the 1930s as the result of the Nazi’s persecution of the Jews. Herman Rebhan passed away in 2006. The Herman Rebhan

Papers consist of speeches made by Rebhan in his capacity as General Secretary of the IMF along with a book Rebhan published in 1980 containing a selection of his speeches and papers.

UAW Education Department: Victor Reuther Records

drice — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:41:57 -0500

The United Auto Workers Education Department is the largest of its kind in the American labor movement and offers a wide variety of programming for local union leaders to members and their families.

The records in this collection cover the tenure of Victor Reuther, who directed the department from 1946-1951. Material reflects not only his leadership of the department, but his community involvement, and international ties with organizations such as the Anglo-American Productivity Council and the Economic Cooperation Administration. Important events during this time, such as Reuther's shooting in 1949, are also covered.

Podcast: Jessica Levy on "Black Power, Inc.: Global American Business and the Post-Apartheid City"

mcourtney — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 11:00:15 -0400

Check out the latest episode of Tales From the Reuther Library, our bi-weekly podcast! This episode, Jessica Levy explains how American corporations and black entrepreneurs worked together to forge a new politics linking American business with black liberation at home and abroad, focusing particularly on Leon Howard Sullivan, read more »

Podcast: "Democracy is Sweeping Over the World:" Brookwood Labor College at the Nexus of Transnational Radicalism in the Jazz Age

teller — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 16:24:51 -0500

While the 1920s are often described as "lean years" of progressive action, Andreas Meyris explains how the Brookwood Labor College in Katonah, New York served as a conduit for transnational radicalism in the 1920s while also training labor journalists and up-and-coming labor leaders like Walter Reuther and Rose Pesotta, setting the stage for the explosion of industrial unionism during the 1930s. read more »

[Podcast] The UAW’s Southern Gamble in Foreign-Owned Factories

teller — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 09:32:50 -0500

Dr. Stephen Silvia explains how the UAW built a cooperative relationship with workers’ councils and unions at foreign automotive companies, but has nevertheless struggled to organize those companies’ vehicle factories in the southern United States since the 1990s due to anti-labor politics and the companies’ shared anti-union playbooks. read more »

American Labour Review

kchinery — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 10:01:06 -0400

Processed

CLAT Publications

kchinery — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 12:58:11 -0400

Processed. Latin American Confederation of Workers. Titles: CLAT Newsletter, 1982-1984; CLAT Report, 1984-1986.

Free Labour World

kchinery — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:40:58 -0400

Processed. Bound volumes: 1952-1971.

IAPES News

kchinery — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 11:08:18 -0500

Processed

Information Service

kchinery — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:47:52 -0400

Unprocessed

News from ICFTU

kchinery — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:43:10 -0400

Processed

Press Releases

kchinery — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:49:43 -0400

Unprocessed

The Communist Review

kchinery — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 16:01:48 -0400

Processed. Vols. 2-3.

Union Herald

kchinery — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 15:09:17 -0400

Processed. Malaysia.

World Trade Union Movement

kchinery — Wed, 26 Feb 2014 11:23:51 -0500

Processed