Title: Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America. Local 456: Records
Inclusive Dates: 1907-1967

Creator:

• Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America. Local 456 (Madison, Wis.)

Call Number: Mss 707; PH 6560

Quantity: 3.0 c.f. (8 archives boxes and 1 flat box) and 1 photograph

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Records of the Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America, Local 456, the Madison, Wisconsin, local transit workers union which represented employees of the Madison Bus Company, 1911-1967. Collective bargaining files, 1913-1966, which comprise the majority of the collection include contacts, correspondence, agreements, reports, and transcripts of arbitration hearings. In addition, there are executive board and general membership meeting minutes, correspondence, other internal administrative files and dues records, audit reports, miscellaneous financial records, and a photograph of union workers.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00707

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Local (Division) 456 of the Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America which represented employees of the Madison Bus Company was organized in 1911. A semi-industrial union, the local represented MBC drivers, mechanics, washers, janitors, and other garage employees; it did not represent clerical employees, guards, or supervisors.

During its long history, the local struck in 1936 and 1945. Resolution of the labor-management differences in 1945 provided for the utilization of arbitration in settling future contract disagreements. In subsequent years, arbitration was used six times to resolve labor-management disputes.

In 1967 after a National Labor Relations Board election, the Madison Bus Company employees elected the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 695 as their new union representative. At this time Local 456 was dissolved. In 1970 the Madison Bus Company was sold to the city of Madison.

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.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Charles W. Piper, Madison, Wisconsin, March 7, 1962 and by Forrest Ingles, Stoughton, Wisconsin, May 18, 1970. Accession Number: M62-44, M70-119

Processing Information

Processed by Stephen C. Gutgesell (Archives student), Sandra Whitney, and Carolyn J. Mattern, 1987.

Mss 707	Series: Administrative Records
Box   1 Folder   1	Certificate of affiliation (1907), constitution, bylaws and revision materials, , 1917-1962
	Minutes
Box   1 Folder   2	Bus Operators State Council, 1957-1962
	Membership meetings
Box   1 Folder   3-5	1911-1951
Box   2 Folder   1	1952-1967
Box   2 Folder   2-4	Executive Board, 1938-1961
	Correspondence
Box   2 Folder   5-6	General, 1919-1967
Box   2 Folder   7	International correspondence, 1923-1967
	Membership materials
Box   2 Folder   8	Sample applications, certificates, and miscellaneous membership lists
Box   8	Attendance records, 1951-1966
	Series: Financial Records	⇧
Box   2A Folder   1	Account book of checks from Madison Railway Company, 1920-1922
Box   2A Folder   2-9	Treasurer's dues record books, 1911-1921
Box   3 Folder   1	Audit reports, 1933-1948
Box   3 Folder   2	Financial reports to International office, 1932-1944
Box   3 Folder   3	Financial miscellany, undated
Box   3 Folder   4	Pension materials, 1944-1955
	Series: Collective Bargaining Files	⇧
	Negotiations
Box   3 Folder   5-8	1913-1943
Box   4 Folder   1-10	1944-1959
Box   5 Folder   1-5	1960-1966
Box   6 Folder   1	Contracts, 1947-1963
	Hearing materials
Box   6 Folder   2	Board of Arbitration, 1945
Box   6 Folder   3	Wisconsin Employment Relations Board, 1953
Box   6 Folder   4	Board of Arbitration, 1960
Box   7 Folder   1	Board of Arbitration, 1963
	Series: Miscellany	⇧
Box   7 Folder   2	Teamster affiliation, 1967
Box   7 Folder   3	Miscellany, undated
Box   7 Folder   4	Clippings, circa 1941-1963
PH 6560	Strike party photograph, 1945