With a few notable exceptions, these records document well the history of Local 456 which represented Madison transit workers from 1911 through 1967. The records consist chiefly of negotiations files documenting the collective bargaining process and the ongoing effort of the local to raise the wages of its members. There is little documentation directly concerning working conditions or strikes. The collection also includes minutes, correspondence, constitutions and bylaws, financial records, and other internal administrative materials.
This collection is supplemented by other records held by the Historical Society including records of the Madison Bus Company and of Teamster Local 695 which represented MBC employees, 1967-1970, and after the sale of the company to the city of Madison.
The collection is organized as Administrative Records, Financial Records, Collective Bargaining Files, and Miscellany.
The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS include constitutions and bylaws, correspondence, minutes, and membership materials. The minutes include records of general membership and executive board meetings. The former category consists of separate meetings for day and night-shift members. There is a gap in the coverage between 1920 and 1937. The executive board minutes cover the period 1938 through 1961.
The correspondence includes incoming and outgoing letters and a separate file of letters from the International headquarters. Of note in the correspondence is a letter to President Harry Truman and several national legislators urging veto of the Taft-Hartley legislation. Although the correspondence spans the full history of the local, the majority of the documentation dates from the years 1947 to 1954. No complete membership records are included in the collection but there are samples of application forms and membership certificates, partial attendance records, and miscellaneous lists.
FINANCIAL RECORDS consist of records of dues payments (records of the 1920s are missing), audit reports, and financial reports to the international office.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FILES consist of records of contract negotiations and arbitrations which concerned the local and the Madison Bus Company. These files represent the strength of the collection, and they reflect the union's increasing tendency to resort to arbitration in order to resolve its labor management disputes. Included are correspondence, reports, contracts, agreements, and transcriptions of arbitration hearings.
MISCELLANY includes one small file on the reaffiliation of the local's members with the Teamsters in 1967, some historical clippings, and one photograph of a 1945 strike party.
