Title: American Communications Association. Local 111: Records
Inclusive Dates: 1904-1973

Creator:

• American Communications Association. Local 111 (New York, N.Y.)

Call Number: Mss 302

Quantity: 5.0 c.f. (8 archives boxes and 2 record center cartons)

Repository:

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

Archival Locations:

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

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Records, mainly 1942-1973, of the ACA local (founded as Local 11 and later renamed Local 111) which represented Western Union's cable, telegram, and telegraph employees in New York City and Canada. Included is a constitution; bylaws; minutes of the executive board and general membership meetings of the New York and Montreal branches; correspondence with Western Union and various local ACA branches concerning wages, job security, promotions, and wage parity; election material; and information on pension plans and the merger of Western Union and Postal Telegraph and the resultant divestment of Western Union's cable operations. A large portion of the records document annual contract negotiations.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00302

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In March 1941, New York employees of Western Union Cables Department applied for a charter from the American Communications Association (CIO). Chartered as Local 11, the local quickly gained recognition as bargaining agent and negotiated its first contract. At first representing only New York Western Union cable employees, the local gradually gained Canadian members in Montreal; New Sydney and Canso, Nova Scotia; Heart's Content and Bay Roberts, Newfoundland; and St. Pierre, Miquelon Island. Raymond Lauria served as Secretary-Treasurer during these early years and was replaced in 1946 by Frank Lenahan who served until 1961 and was also a member of the ACA's International Executive Board.

Issues of special interest to Local 11 included the merger of Western Union and Postal Telegraph, and the resultant divestment of Western Union's cable operations which was ordered by the federal government as an anti-trust measure. On this matter, Local 11 members participated in a letter-writing campaign to the Federal Communications Commission and the Congress expressing their concerns for maintenance of wages and working conditions, continued pension rights, and job security, and registering opposition to various proposed ownership changes. Local and national ACA officers testified at hearings, lobbied, and worked with their European counterpart, the Western Union Cable Employees Association.

Another important concern of Local 11 was the Washington Varioplex issue of 1946-47 which involved the transfer of work from cable to domestic workers, thus threatening the cable employees' job security. However, the local's major concerns were the day-to-day problems such as poor working conditions, duty assignments, promotions, vacations, etc. Approximately every two years, Local 11 negotiated two contracts, one for the U.S. members and one for the Northern (Canadian) members, and aimed always at shorter work hours, improved conditions, higher wages, and general advancement of the workers' interests.

The collection is organized in two parts. Part I consists of the materials received in 1969 and organized in 1974. Part II consists of materials received in 1978 and organized and added in 1988.

Part I: Materials Organized in 1975, dated 1904-1962. Box 1-6

Part I of the Papers of ACA, Local 111 include correspondence, minutes, bulletins, ballots, petitions, newspaper clippings, and various documents such as contracts, pension plans and arbitration decisions. The bulk of the records cover the years 1942-1961. They are arranged in one alphabetical file. A disappointing aspect of the collection is its generally fragmentary record of activities; this is particularly apparent in the minutes which are incomplete and often take the form of rough notes.

The most complete files are those dealing with contract negotiations, particularly the Northern (Canadian) negotiations. They provide a good record of the negotiation process and document the basic, practical concerns of the union and its members. Other especially useful materials include the files on pensions, giving a complete history of the cable workers' pension plans from 1904 to 1955, and the papers filed under “Western Union Cables Divestment” plus related materials filed under “Federal Communications Commission.”

The correspondence found in the folders titled “Correspondence” is generally routine though that with the Northern units yields information on their relationship with the local as a whole. Additional correspondence is found throughout the collection.

Part II: Materials Added in 1988, dated 1943-1973. Box 7-10

The additions to the records of ACA, Local 111 include the same type of documentation contained in the earlier portion of the collection, generally supplementing the earlier information and providing some coverage for a more recent period. Like the earlier material, the 1988 addition is arranged as an alphabetical subject file. Also like the earlier material, the 1988 addition contains little information pertaining to the charges of Communist subversions which troubled the international during the 1950's.

This section contains a constitution, by-laws, minutes, correspondence, contract negotiation files and memoranda of understanding. Also included is material pertaining to the merger of Western Union and Postal Telegraph and the subsequent divestiture of Western Union's cable operations, FCC hearings, pension plan negotiations, and miscellany.

The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS contain two sets of by-laws. One set applies to the union and another set applies to the Democratic Republican Independent Voter Education (DRIVE), an organization legally separate from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters with which the ACA was affiliated after 1966. DRIVE had its own constitution which is included with the by-laws. Also included are by-laws for the DRIVE Ladies Auxiliary.

MINUTES are from executive board meetings in New York (1961-1968) and general membership meetings of the Montreal (1943-1966) and New York (1958-1968, 1971) branches. Minutes can also be found scattered in the contract negotiation files and the correspondence files pertaining to Northern and United States stations.

CORRESPONDENCE is arranged alphabetically by subject; it covers the dates 1943 to 1968. Of note are two folders regarding disciplinary actions (1961-1968).

The CONTRACT NEGOTIATION files are arranged chronologically and cover the period 1949 to 1973. Most files include minutes, correspondence, and agreements. Memoranda of understanding are also arranged chronologically and date from 1944 to 1964.

DIVESTMENT AND MERGER FILES consist of correspondence, FCC hearings information, agreements, and union statements and bulletins. Additional material pertaining to the ACA response to the merger and divestment can be found in the records of the ACA international (Mss 298/Mss 734).

The MISCELLANY includes newspaper clippings regarding the 1958 Montreal negotiations, financial reports for Joint Council #16 of the Communication Workers of America (CWA), newsletters, statements and other fragmentary documents. In addition, there are materials relating to the issue of wage parity between Canadian and United States workers. This material includes union agendas, a study on earning comparisons between Western Union and Radio Corporation of America, wage classifications and automatic progression scales, contract wage comparisons, and various WU financial reports.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Local 111, New York, N.Y., 1969 and 1978. Accession Number: MCHC69-004 and M78-171

Processing Information

Processed by Karen Baumann and Lynn Goldman (1974) and additions processed by Sandra Whitney and Carolyn J. Mattern (1988).

	Series: Materials Organized in 1975
Box   1 Folder   1	ACA Conventions, 1948, 1956, 1958
Box   1 Folder   2	Arbitration, 1958-59
Box   1 Folder   3	Arbitration Documents - Miscellaneous, 1943-45
Box   1 Folder   4	Communist Slanders, 1949-51
	Contract Negotiations-Northern
Box   1 Folder   5	1949-50
Box   1 Folder   6	1950-51
Box   1 Folder   7	1951
Box   1 Folder   8	1954-55
Box   1 Folder   9	1955-56
Box   1 Folder   10	1956-57
Box   1 Folder   11	1957
Box   2 Folder   1	and Conciliation, 1958
Box   2 Folder   2	1958-59
Box   2 Folder   3	1960-61
	Contract Negotiations-United States
Box   2 Folder   4	1950
Box   2 Folder   5	1955-56
Box   2 Folder   6	1957
Box   2 Folder   7	Bulletins, 1958
Box   2 Folder   8	1960
Box   3 Folder   1	Miscellaneous Agreements, 1942-60
	Correspondence
	General
Box   3 Folder   2	1949-57
Box   3 Folder   3	1958-60
Box   3 Folder   4	1961
	General Membership
Box   3 Folder   5	1942-58
Box   3 Folder   6	1959-61
Box   3 Folder   7	Bay Roberts, Nfld., 1953-60
Box   3 Folder   8	Canso, Nova Scotia, 1948-58
Box   3 Folder   9	Heart's Content, Nfld., 1948-61
Box   4 Folder   1	London, 1945-58
Box   4 Folder   2	Montreal, Quebec, 1948-62
Box   4 Folder   3	North Sydney, Nova Scotia, 1948-59
Box   4 Folder   4	Paris, 1946-61
Box   4 Folder   5	St. Johns, Nfld., 1949-50
Box   4 Folder   6	St. Pierre, Miquelon Island, 1947-61
Box   4 Folder   7	Duty Assignment Issues, 1942-47
	Elections
Box   4 Folder   8	1954-59
Box   4 Folder   9	1960-62
	Federal Communications Commission
Box   4 Folder   10	1943-52
Box   4 Folder   11	1953-61
Box   5 Folder   1	Force Reduction Issue, 1948-50
Box   5 Folder   2	Lauria, R. A., 1946-48
Box   5 Folder   3	Membership Bulletins, 1943-61
	Minutes
	Executive Committee
Box   5 Folder   4	1942-46
Box   5 Folder   5	1947-61
	Membership Meetings
Box   5 Folder   6	1942-46
Box   5 Folder   7	1956-61
Box   5 Folder   8	Miscellaneous, 1947-61, n.d.
Box   5 Folder   9	National Office Form Letters to International Executive Board Members, 1954-61
Box   5 Folder   10	Pension Dinner, 1949
	Pension Plans
Box   5 Folder   11	1904-39
Box   5 Folder   12	1940
Box   5 Folder   13	1941-55
Box   6 Folder   1	Promotions, 1942-50
Box   6 Folder   2	Scab Resignations, 1948-49
Box   6 Folder   3	Strike Support of Other Locals, 1955-61
Box   6 Folder   4	Vacation Issues, 1942-47
Box   6 Folder   5	Washington Varioplex Issue, 1942-47
	Western Union Cables Divestment
Box   6 Folder   6	General, 1957-58
Box   6 Folder   7	Sale to Textron, Inc., 1955
Box   6 Folder   8	Sale to American Securities, 1956
Box   6 Folder   9	Sale to Barnes Investing Corporation, 1960
Box   6 Folder   10	Western Union Cable Strike, 1948
	Working Condition Complaints
Box   6 Folder   11	1942-47
Box   6 Folder   12	1948-56
Box   6 Folder   13	1957-62, n.d.
	Series: Materials Added in 1988	⇧
	Subseries: Administrative Records
Box   7 Folder   1	By-laws
Box   7 Folder   2	Constitution and by-laws of Democrat Republican Independent Voter Education (DRIVE), n.d.
Box   7 Folder   6	Teamster election, 1970
Box   7 Folder   7	General election, 1967
	Subseries: Minutes	⇧
Box   7 Folder   3	Executive Board meetings, 1961-1968
	General membership meetings
Box   7 Folder   4	Montreal branch, 1943-1966
Box   7 Folder   5	New York branch, 1958-1968, 1971
	Subseries: Correspondence	⇧
Box   7 Folder   8-9	ACA membership, 1943-1968 and n.d.
Box   7 Folder   10	International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 1966-1968
Box   7 Folder   11-12	Western Union, 1493-1966
Box   7 Folder   13-14	Regarding Western Union employees, 1961-1968
	Stations, Northern and United States
Box   7 Folder   15	Bay Roberts, 1957-1966
Box   7 Folder   16	Hammel, 1947-1962
Box   7 Folder   17	Hawaii (includes minutes), 1967
Box   7 Folder   18	Hearts Content, 1961-1964
Box   7 Folder   19	London, Western Union Cable Employees' Association, 1958-1966
Box   8 Folder   1	Miami (includes minutes), 1958-1967
Box   8 Folder   2	Montreal (includes minutes), 1961-1967
Box   8 Folder   3	North Sydney, 1958-1963
Box   8 Folder   4	St. Pierre, 1961-1962
	Subseries: Contract Negotiations	⇧
Box   8 Folder   5-26	Northern, 1949-1966
Box   9 Folder   1-2	United States, 1962-1973
Box   9 Folder   3	Memoranda of understanding, 1944-1964
Box   9 Folder   4	Arbitration
	Subseries: Divestment and Merger	⇧
Box   9 Folder   5-6	Divestment and merger, 1961
Box   9 Folder   7-8	Federal Communications Commission, 1951-1971
	Subseries: Miscellany	⇧
Box   9 Folder   9	Pension plan negotiations, Montreal, 1971-1972
Box   10 Folder   1	Telephone Department, 1965-1969
Box   10 Folder   2	Union collections, 1964-1967
Box   10 Folder   3	Western Union vs. ACA preamble, statement of management, 1957
Box   10 Folder   4	Miscellany