Title: International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers Miscellaneous Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1956-1966

Creator:

• International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers

Call Number: Micro 27

Quantity: 1 reel of microfilm (35mm)

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:

Miscellaneous papers of the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers concerning the West Coast Uniform Labor Agreement, the withdrawal of west coast locals from the International Brotherhood, and subsequent litigation. The Uniform Labor Agreement was negotiated in 1934 by the Pacific Coast Association of Pulp and Paper Manufacturers and the Pacific Coast Pulp and Paper Mill Employees Association which combined locals of both the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers, and the United Papermakers and Paperworkers. Within the IBPS&PMW, the Rank and File Movement for Democratic Action achieved momentum and in 1964, dissident locals withdrew from the Pacific Coast Association and formed the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers. They claimed heirship to the Uniform Labor Agreement and succeeded in taking over bargaining responsibilities after a 1964 strike. The collection documents with reports, memoranda, and minutes the operation of the Uniform Labor Agreement, 1956-1966. Briefs and other legal papers concern the suit of the two Internationals against the Western Association over ownership of funds. Also present is a “Handbook for Constitutional Reform,” issued by the Rank and File Movement in 1962, and a folder of correspondence concerning University Local #845, Cambridge, Mass.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-micr0027

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

The bulk of the papers included on this microfilm concern the Uniform Labor Agreement, a long-standing labor contract achieved on the Pacific Coast between representatives of the two major paper workers' unions and representatives of the coastal paper manufacturers. Early in the 1930s, representatives of the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers (IBPS&PMW) and the International Brotherhood of Paper Makers (which later became the United Papermakers and Paperworkers - UPP) decided to join forces in bargaining with Pacific Coast paper manufacturers. The locals of these unions on the coast formed the Pacific Coast Pulp and Paper Mill Employees Association. Together with the Pacific Coast Association of Pulp and Paper Manufacturers they worked out the Uniform Labor Agreement (ULA) in 1934. For three decades this Agreement, renegotiated at regular intervals, has been credited with keeping relative peace in the coastal paper industry. When contrasted with the internecine strife prevalent in many industries (e.g., the woodworking industry), not only between labor and management, but also between rival unions, this achievement was remarkable.

In the early 1960's, certain elements within the IBPS&PMW and the UPP began to feel that the administrative structure of the Internationals was no longer sufficiently responsive to the wishes of the rank and file. Within the IBPS&PMW the Rank and File Movement for Democratic Action (RFMDA) achieved momentum, and a similar movement developed within the UPP. Although these movements spread throughout the country, they were most active on the Pacific coast.

The final crisis came on the Coast in 1964 during a “Pre-Wage Conference” of the Pacific Coast Pulp and Paper Mill Employees Association preparatory to labor-management negotiations under the ULA. Dissident locals of the IBPS&PMW and the UPP withdrew from the Conference and from the respective international unions. They formed an entirely new union, the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers (AWPPW), several of whose officers had previously held high position in the RFMDA and the Employees Association.

The new union claimed to be heir to the Uniform Labor Agreement, and approached the manufacturers, many of whom had been confused by the turn of events, and were reluctant to bargain with an untried union. However, the Western Association managed to win an NLRB election covering the unit. Finally, in the fall of 1964, in order to demonstrate to the manufacturers their strength and solidarity, the new union decided to call a strike--the first major strike in the Coastal paper industry since the institution of the ULA. After several weeks the manufacturers agreed to bargain, and new ULA negotiations commenced between the Western Association and the Pacific Coast Association of Pulp and Paper Manufacturers.

In the meantime, immediately after the bolt of the rebel locals, the old Internationals filed suit against the AWPPW, claiming funds of their formerly affiliated locals reverted to the treasuries of their respective Internationals when they disaffiliated, in accordance with clauses in the constitutions of the IBPS&PMW and the UPP. Lengthy litigations have so far [written in 1967] proved inconclusive. In the principal suit of the Internationals against the Western Association, the Oregon Circuit Court for the County of Multnomah concluded in favor of the Internationals in March, 1966. Two subsidiary suits against particular locals in Oregon and Washington were subsequently decided against the Internationals. All cases are being appealed to higher courts.

Apart from the controversies over funds, the Internationals have maintained that procedures in the Western Association are no more democratic, and perhaps less so, than those the rebels had criticized in the parent unions. Moreover, they contend that the new union is at a distinct disadvantage in negotiating with the manufacturers as compared with the older, more experienced Internationals. By late 1966 the Internationals were beginning to hope that a certain amount of “backlash” sentiment was developing which might eventually accrue to their benefit in future NLRB elections. Indeed, of the original 64 locals participating in the ULA prior to 1964, 30 of them (although not the largest) had remained loyal to the Internationals, despite their somewhat anomalous and disadvantaged position due to closed-shop provisions of the ULA.

Approximately one-third of the material appearing on this microfilm consists of mimeographed reports, memoranda, or minutes prepared by the Pacific Coast Pulp and Paper Mill Employees Association and/or the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers, relating directly or indirectly to the Uniform Labor Agreement during the period 1956-1966. The bulk of the remaining two-thirds consists of briefs and other legal materials associated with the principal suit of the two Internationals against the Western Association. The film also contains one folder of correspondence and miscellany relating to University Local #845, IBPS&PMW, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a mimeographed “Handbook for Constitutional Reform,” prepared by the Rank and File Movement for Democratic Action in about 1962.

Additional materials on the above topics are available. See especially the Records of the Rank and File Movement for Democratic Action (Micro 26) and the Records of the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers (Micro 43). A nearly complete set of records of negotiations under the Uniform Labor Agreement will soon be available. Several items loaned by Mr. Graham at the same time as the materials in this film were referred to the Historical Library and will be available on film there: a history of the Uniform Labor Agreement entitled Twenty Years of Collective Bargaining and Twenty Years of Peace by John Sherman, vice president of the Pulp and Sulphite Workers (privately printed, December, 1954); printed texts of the Uniform Labor Agreement for the years 1963, 1964, and 1966; and constitutions of the Pacific Coast Pulp and Paper Mill Employees Association for the years 1939 and 1954.

Acquisition Information

Originals loaned for microfilming by Harry Graham, Iowa City, Iowa; by the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers, Port Edwards, New York; and by the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, Portland, Oregon; April, 1967.

Processing Information

Processed by Emilie Al-Khazraji, May 17, 1967.

	Series: Uniform Labor Agreement
Reel   1 Items   1-3	Pacific Coast Pulp and Paper Mill Employees Association - Reports, 1956, 1957, 1958
Reel   1 Item   4	IBPS&PMW - Pacific Coast Council - Minutes of Meeting, April 22-23, 1957
Reel   1 Item   5	IBPS&PMW and UPP - Minutes of Pre Wage Conference, April 15-April 22, 1964
Reel   1 Item   5	Uniform Labor Agreement Wage Conference Caucus Minutes, April 23-May 5, 1964
Reel   1 Item   6	Joint Summary of Results of Negotiations, April 22-May 5, 1964
Reel   1 Item   7	IBPS&PMW - Historical Background of 1964 Uniform Labor Agreement Controversy on West Coast (, July, 1964)
Reel   1 Item   8	Memorandum Concerning Raid on West Coast AFL-CIO Paper Industry Unions prepared by IBPS&PMW, circa July, 1964
Reel   1 Item   9	Joint Summary of Negotiations by the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers and the Pacific Coast Association of Pulp and Paper Manufacturers, November 23, 1964
Reel   1 Item   10	IBPS&PMW, Twenty-seventh Convention - Report of the International Executive Board, September, 1965 (Summary of Uniform labor Agreement Litigation, pp. 14-18)
Reel   1 Item   11	Comparison and Analysis of Uniform Labor Agreement as Amended in 1963, between UPP & IBPS&PMW, AFL-CIO vs. - As Amended March 15, 1966 between AWPPW, Independent (sic)
Reel   1 Item   12	Background and Backlash of Reorganizing U.L.A. Bargaining Unit prepared by IBPS&PMW, circa October, 1966
	Series: Litigation Scope and Content Note: Circuit Court of the State of Oregon for the County of Multnomah: Cause No. 302-117, United Papermakers and Paper-workers AFL-CIO and Paul L. Phillips, Plaintiffs, vs. Uniform Labor Agreement Committee; Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers; William R. Perrin, Defendants - Cause No. 302-118, International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers, AFL-CIO and William H. Burnell, Plaintiffs, vs. Uniform Labor Agreement Committee; Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers; William R. Perrin, Defendants.	⇧
Reel   1 Item   13	Plaintiffs' Brief in Support for Their Motion for a Temporary Injunction
Reel   1 Item   14	Plaintiffs' Brief
Reel   1 Item   15	Plaintiffs' Supplemental Brief
Reel   1 Item   16	Brief of Defendants
Reel   1 Items   17-18	Deposition of Paul J. Hayes, Books 1 and 2
Reel   1 Item   19	Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law
	Series: Miscellany	⇧
Reel   1 Item   20	Correspondence between David R. Grogan and Francis Tierney, and miscellany, 1956-1960, concerning University Local #845, IBPS&PMW, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Reel   1 Item   21	Handbook for Constitutional Reform prepared by the Rank and File Movement for Democratic Action, IBPS&PMW, circa 1962