Local 223 of the American Federation of Teachers was organized in 1930 at a faculty meeting of the University of Wisconsin Summer School for Workers in Industry. Early members were mainly instructors and teaching assistants whose primary concern was raising low salary levels. Following wide publicity and praise given to three thorough reports on salaries and recommendations for their increase, Local 223's membership reached a high of 127 in 1949. Other areas of concern to the union were academic freedom, the quality of education, and the labor movement in general. Active members in the 1930-1950 period included Charles Bunn and William Gorham Rice (Law); James Earley, Edwin Young, and Harold Groves (Economics); Walter Agard and Paul Mackendrick (Classics); and Lelia Bascom (English).
A failure to attract new members caused Local 223 to cease functioning in 1957. However, Professors Robert Ozanne and Francis D. Hole led a movement to reactivate the local in 1961. As membership remained small and national dues rose, however, individual faculty members decided to organize an independent local union and in 1968 established United Faculty. A core of about ten Local 223 members maintained the local's existence but by agreement continued to elect the same president elected by United Faculty. In 1974 United Faculty merged with Local 223 in order to gain the assistance of the national union yet retain its local autonomy.
