Collective labor agreements--Municipal employees

SEIU Executive Office: John Sweeney Records

ljones — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 12:52:45 -0500

For many, John Sweeney is known as the now former head of the AFL-CIO, a position from which he retired in 2009 after 14 years of service. For most of the previous 35 years, though, he was a member turned officer of the Service Employees International Union, having served 15 of those years as its President. The SEIU Executive Office: John Sweeney Records document his tenure during these 15 years, although portions of these records predate his tenure in that office.

The records contain files documenting the activities of SEIU local unions, joint councils and other SEIU affiliates. In addition, the files of SEIU executive board members, vice presidents, divisions, departments and staff members are also found within the collection, often within series identified in this manner. Researchers can also review records documenting the meetings, hearings, conventions and conferences Sweeney attended and at which he often spoke or testified. Records documenting SEIU's conventions from its inception in 1921 until 1992 are also found within these records. The records of the conventions reveal the major policy shifts of the union. Sweeney's interest in healthcare are also found within these records in addition to the union's external relationships with labor organizations and others.

SEIU Research Department Records

ljones — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:09:02 -0500

The SEIU Research Department was established in 1942 as the Research and Education Department. It was created mainly to help prepare negotiators at the bargaining table during World War II. Its main purpose was to gather data and information from the locals. The department would analyze the data, synthesize it and distribute reports throughout the organization. The department was expanded in 1945. Additional responsibilities grew to include analyzing new labor trends and organizational methods, fiscal and economic data and tracking federal budgets.

The SEIU Research Department Records, Part One and Two, largely contain reports and surveys (mostly SEIU related and largely providing stats) regarding benefits, collective bargaining agreements, contracts & data surveys, death gratuity, economic issues, industry surveys, locals, membership, scholarship competitions, research, companies with which SEIU organizes, gender, health and safety, anti-discrimination/affirmative action, policies,
laws, school employees, technology, video display terminals, organizing, cost containment, and wages.

The SEIU Research Department Records, Part Three, largely contain key contracts spanning from the early 1930s until the mid 1990s. Correspondence, reports, company profiles, surveys, employer financial records, contract votes, employee policies, clippings, newsletters, bulletins, and other material comprise the collection as well.

AFSCME Oral History Transcript; Joan Goddard (President of Local 101), interviewed by Johanna Russ

mcourtney — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 15:57:13 -0400

Joan Goddard served as President of AFSCME Local 101 after the Union’s 1981 contract fight centered on narrowing the gap between male and female municipal workers’ pay in San Jose, California.

In this interview, she discusses her role in the negotiations and eventual strike during the 1981 contract struggle. Debate at the bargaining table focused on the Hay study, which compared jobs with similar levels of complexity in predominantly male and predominantly female fields to reveal a large pay gap.

Local 101’s strike is known as the first strike over comparable worth, which argues that a pay gap can only be closed when classifications with similar skill levels earn equivalent pay.

(32657) AFSCME Local 371 strikers and supporters, New York, 1965

mcourtney — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:14:36 -0500

This photograph originally appeared in AFSCME's magazine, the Public Employee. The caption beneath the photo read, "Rally: Striking members of AFSCME Local 371 and sympathizers jammed New York City's Manhattan Center for a rally as the Union's strike went into its second week. the Welfare Department workers heard union leaders assure them that the entire labor movement was behind them in their struggle for decent and honorable collective bargaining." 1965.

(32659) Manhattan Center, AFSCME Local 371 Strike Rally, 1965

mcourtney — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:23:45 -0500

Manhattan Center, New York, New York, hosts a rally for AFSCME Local 371 strikers and their supporters in January, 1965.

(32660) Supporters of AFSCME Local 371's 1965 strike march in New York

mcourtney — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 13:27:48 -0500

AFSCME Local 371 strike sympathizers march in New York, NY, in 1965. These demonstrators include area students and members of other unions.