On September 12, 1935, culminating a long struggle to organize rubber workers, fifty-one delegates representing twenty-six unions met in Akron, Ohio, and founded the International Union of United Rubber Workers of America. In defiance of American Federation of Labor president William Green, they refused to accept a charter of affiliation with the A.F. of L., which would have given Green the right to “designate or appoint [the rubber workers'] officers for a probationary period.” The 3,080 member union elected Sherman Dalrymple first president. In 1936, demonstrating continuing opposition to the vote of the A.F. of L. to retain craft union status, the United Rubber Workers affiliated with the expelled A.F. of L. Committee of Industrial Organizations under coal miner president John L. Lewis. On February 17 of that year, the Rubber Workers launched its first major successful strike, against Goodyear Rubber, and in the succeeding five years had its period of greatest growth. In 1945, Dalrymple resigned, having never fully recovered from a near-fatal beating he suffered while organizing rubber workers in Gadsden, Alabama in 1936; Leland Stanford Buckmaster was elevated to the presidency. That same year the name of the union was changed to the United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum and Plastic Workers of America.
An education and research committee was appointed at the second quarterly meeting of the union, January 21-23, 1937, consisting of union president Sherman Dalrymple, vice-president Thomas F. Burns, and executive board member Leland Buckmaster. The committee was to consult with John L. Lewis and his advisors and report to the general executive board of the Rubber Workers. At the fourth quarterly meeting held at Akron, Ohio, August 4-10, 1937, an education and research department under direct supervision of the vice-president was established. This small department remained intact until its two discrete functions were assigned separate departments by a 1952 constitutional amendment. The present department of education is responsible to the international president and the international executive board of the union. It provides assistance to union locals in developing educational programs for members, officers, and stewards, conducts summer training and legislative institutes, disseminates strike information, and has an active publishing program.
For a more detailed early history of the union see: Roberts, Harold Selig. The Rubber Workers; Labor Organization and Collective Bargaining in the Rubber Industry. New York and London: Harper and Bros., 1944.
