Title: Wisconsin State Conference of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen International Union of America Records
Inclusive Dates: 1952-1986

Creator:

• Wisconsin State Conference of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen International Union of America

Call Number: Mss 709

Quantity: 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes)

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 1975-1985, of the Wisconsin organization of members of the Bricklayers and Masons Union, including constitutions and by-laws, minutes, correspondence, financial reports, officers' reports and other convention material, and files concerning participation in the Wisconsin Masonry Joint Apprenticeship Committee. The records cover only the period 1952-1986, although scattered published convention proceedings covering the period 1921-1948 are available in the Historical Society Library. Primarily documented are concerns posed by non-unionized contractors and changing trends in construction methods.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00709

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Very little is known about the early history of the Wisconsin State Conference of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen. The earliest records held by the Historical Society suggest that the conference was formed about 1911 and that the members united for their mutual protection and the benefit of the masonry craft. About the same time the members began holding annual conventions in order to discuss the current state of their craft. In recent years these discussions have increasingly focused upon the changes brought about by changing construction methods; by the threat to organized masons posed by the state association of non-union and anti-union contractors, the Associated Building Contractors; and by the necessity for keeping the union wage the prevailing wage for masons.

As a member of the Wisconsin Masonry Joint Apprenticeship Committee, the conference advises the Department of Industry, Labor, and Human Relations and the State Board of Vocational, Technical and Adult Education on apprenticeship matters and has worked to create and sustain high building standards and regulations.

The records of the Wisconsin State Conference represent those files held by Frank Skibbie, a longtime officer in the organization, rather than the official files of the organization. As a result, the records mainly document the period 1975-1985, and they reflect Skibbie's participation in behalf of the conference in apprenticeship matters. The files consist of material documenting the internal organization of the conference, files concerning participation in the Wisconsin Masonry Joint Apprenticeship Committee, and miscellany.

ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS consist of constitutions and by-laws, minutes, correspondence, financial reports, and an agreement which led to the merger of several Fox Valley locals. The minutes include documentation on meetings of the Executive Board, the Judiciary Board, business agents, the organizing committee, and the benefit fund committee. Although the monthly financial reports cover only a brief period, they include interesting statistics on numbers of members entering and leaving the union, prevailing wages, and evaluations of work conditions. The annual audit reports, however, are more comprehensive. Convention files variously include agenda, lists of delegates, detailed reports of the secretary and president summarizing activities, and copies of resolutions. Published convention proceedings covering a few select years within the period 1921-1948 are available in the Society Library.

APPRENTICESHIP FILES include minutes and correspondence and files on standards and various programs in which the committee participated.

MISCELLANY includes a proclamation, undated and unidentified resolutions, and some material (1973) on organizing nonunionized workers.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Frank Skibbie, Rib Lake, Wisconsin, March 17, 1986. Accession Number: M86-84

Processing Information

Processed by Sandra Whitney and Carolyn J. Mattern, 1987.

	Series: Organizational Records
Box   1 Folder   1	Constitution and by-laws, 1952, 1980, undated
Box   1 Folder   2	Minutes, 1975-1985
Box   1 Folder   3	Correspondence, 1976-1986, undated
Box   1 Folder   4	Audits, 1965-1985
Box   1 Folder   5	Monthly financial reports, 1984-1985
Box   1 Folder   6	Financial miscellany, 1977-1984
Box   1 Folder   7	Fox River Valley locals merger agreement, 1976
	Convention files
Box   1 Folder   8-13	1973-1978
Box   2 Folder   1-7	1979-1985
	Series: Apprenticeship Files	⇧
	Wisconsin Masonry Joint Apprenticeship Committee
Box   2 Folder   8	Minutes, 1959-1985
Box   2 Folder   9	Correspondence, 1975-1986
Box   2 Folder   10	Contest committee, 1974-1981
Box   2 Folder   11	Liability, 1979-1981
Box   2 Folder   12	Seminar, 1976-1977
Box   2 Folder   13	Standards, 1977
Box   2 Folder   14	Trade industry declaration, 1977-1979
Box   2 Folder   15	Wisconsin Valley Masons Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee, 1978-1986
	Series: Miscellany	⇧
Box   2 Folder   16	Masonry Institute of Wisconsin promotion, 1977-1979
Box   2 Folder   17	Miscellany, 1973, 1978, undated