Collective labor agreements--Service industries

SEIU Education Department Records

aorchard — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 08:51:59 -0400

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) was founded in 1921 as a union of flat janitors. Over the years it has grown in size and scope, now comprising three divisions: healthcare, property services, and public services. SEIU’s Department of Education generates training materials for its members on topics including workplace training (for all three divisions), internal staff professional development, collective bargaining, organizing, and political campaigns. Document formats found within the records are primarily training guides and manuals (including facilitator training materials), as well as materials such as publications and reports utilized by the Education Department.

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 Local 1 Records

aorchard — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 12:44:36 -0400

As its name implies, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1 of Chicago, Illinois is SEIU’s first local. Local 1 signed its initial agreement with the Chicago Real Estate Board in 1916, seven years before William Quesse officially founded SEIU in 1921 as a union of flat janitors. For much of its history, Local 1 focused its efforts on organizing and representing building employees, particularly janitors.

The SEIU Local 1 Records document the history of Local 1 as well as three locals that were directly amalgamated into Local 1 beginning in 1989 through 1998: Local 11, Local 106, and Local 25. Also included are materials from locals that merged into those locals prior to their mergers into Local 1, the most prominent of which is Local 4 (which merged into Local 106 in 1987). Although the records span from 1913-1999, the first 30 or so years of Local 1’s history is scant. The majority of the material within the collection documents 1950-1989, covering the operations of these locals, particularly their contracts with various companies, correspondence, discussions during internal meetings, and photographs documenting a variety of events.

Specific records documenting the history of each local include governance materials such as correspondence, meeting minutes, constitutions and by-laws; agreements; subject files including leases, arbitrations, building surveys, mergers, and audits; communications and publications including form and quarterly letters sent to union members, flyers, and serials; historical documents such as clippings and local histories; and audiovisual materials, primarily encompassing photographs, negatives, and contact sheets, as well as several scrapbooks and an original charter.

SEIU Local 32B-32J Records

ljones — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:15:25 -0500

Local 32B, located in New York, NY, was founded on April 19, 1934 and within months the young union was on strike in the garment district; within days the union won rights to a closed shop and gained a substantial number of new members. Local 32J had been charted in 1936 and was composed largely of women building service workers. The two unions merged in 1977, and the new 32B-32J had over 46,000 members. Part I of this collection is comprised entirely of correspondence from the members of the Local to Union officers, and the Union reply. The subjects include benefits, grievance and arbitration matters, requests for employment, and a large number of letters from retired members on a variety of issues.

Former Local 32B-32J President John J. Sweeney was elected SEIU International President in 1980, and was thus succeeded as President of Local 32B-32J in 1981 by Gus Bevona. It was the Bevona administration that generated the majority of the records in Part II. Part II primarily consists of video recordings (both U-matic and VHS) of union meetings, interviews, and events. Additionally included are materials on 32B-32J’s history and administrative publications, as well as a bound volume of materials related to the 1976 Apartment Building Agreement and proceedings between the union and Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, Inc.

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.