Title: International Union of Life Insurance Agents Records
Inclusive Dates: 1938-1992

Creator:

• International Union of Life Insurance Agents

Call Number: Mss 866; Micro 2049; Audio 1301A; PH Mss 866

Quantity: 5.0 cubic feet (15 archives boxes), 1 reel of microfilm (35 mm), 2 tape recordings, and 64 photographs (1 folder)

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 an international union begun in Wisconsin in 1938 that represented life insurance agents in the Midwest; in 1993 International Union of Life Insurance Agents (IULIA) merged with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). Included are minutes of the General Executive Board and regional board meetings; financial reports, officer lists, correspondence, and grievance reports submitted by locals (1981-1982); records of contract negotiations with the Prudential Insurance Company; convention proceedings; scrapbooks; photographs; and correspondence, reports, and other papers about proposed affiliations with the Insurance Workers International Union and other insurance unions.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00866

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In 1937, Ed Rice, a retired Metropolitan Life Insurance Company manager, became interested in the idea of a union that would represent insurance men. He contacted agents in Kenosha, Wisconsin, who in turn, discussed the idea with associates in Milwaukee and Racine. These men met secretly at the Wisconsin Hotel in Milwaukee, often parking blocks from the meeting place for fear that management was watching. By early 1938 they had formed three locals of the IULIA in Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Racine.

In 1939 the Wisconsin Labor Relations Board designated the union as a legal bargaining unit. Despite an attempt by the Prudential, Metropolitan, and John Hancock Life Insurance companies to classify the agents as independent contractors, the companies eventually recognized the union and began bargaining. In 1940 the companies renewed their claim that the agents were contractors rather than employees, this time pursuing their contention to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The court's decision required a second union election in July 1941. The union captured 79 percent of the vote in that election, and in September 1941 IULIA and the Prudential began negotiating their first contract. That first contract was signed on February 19, 1942. Agents working for John Hancock and the Metropolitan soon held elections and negotiated their first contracts as well.

In 1948 the Prudential requested an election in a thirty-one state section in the expectation that no union would be able to organize the entire area. Despite their small size, IULIA campaigned against the larger United Office and Professional Workers (CIO) and the Insurance Agents Council (AFL). Many IULIA members spent their vacations traveling around the country to inform colleagues about their union. Although they spent over $40,000.00, IULIA's election effort was unsuccessful, and the members of the IULIA concluded they could effectively represent members only in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio. IULIA continued to negotiate with the Prudential in two-year and then three-year contract cycles. They also held conventions to discuss challenges in the industry.

In 1993 the Union joined the United Food and Commercial Workers, bringing with them 1,500 members in the three states.

The records are organized in six series: Historical Records, Minutes, Local Records, Contracts, Conventions, and Miscellaneous Administrative Records.

The records provide rather consistent documentation of the activities of the union from its inception in 1938 until the late 1980s, with only a few records dating from the early 1990s. Particularly well documented by minutes, convention proceedings, and scrapbooks are the union's early years. Also well represented is the period from 1969 to 1988. Records from these years include General Executive Board, sub-committee, and regional board minutes; contract proposals; and correspondence. There is little documentation, however, dating from the 1950s and the 1960s. The union's newsletter, Our Voice, which is available on microfilm in the Wisconsin Historical Society Library, is also an essential historical source.

The HISTORICAL RECORDS include the minutes and correspondence documenting the beginning of the union in 1938. Also from that period are microfilmed scrapbooks, several examples of IULIA constitutions, and a history (1970s?) that first appeared in Our Voice. The scrapbooks were destroyed after filming but original photographs have been retained as part of the collection. The photographs include images of union meetings and portraits of members.

MINUTES provide comprehensive documentation of the operation of the union from 1969 to 1988. These files include references to grievances, contract negotiations, and other union business, while the regional board minutes provide a more in-depth look at the issues. Also representing this time period are the LOCAL RECORDS, which consist of officer lists identifying the local leadership and financial reports which document membership and financial patterns. A small file of correspondence arranged by local number refers only to the period 1981-1982. Although much of this correspondence is routine, covering matters related to membership, dues, and benefits, the file also includes grievance reports. This is the only documentation in the papers of this aspect of collective bargaining, and some of the reports are unusually detailed and informative.

The CONTRACTS series documents negotiations with Prudential from 1961 to 1991. The files include proposals made by both the union and Prudential, correspondence between the negotiators, and notes taken by the union negotiator. This material, which is complemented by the GEB minutes, provides a good look at the negotiation process.

The CONVENTIONS series is divided into proceedings and convention material. The proceedings primarily consist of transcripts of the conventions that were held annually until 1942, biennially until 1964, and triennially thereafter. The run is complete except for the period from 1952 to 1962. This series is especially important for understanding the early years of the union when it was a small organization tackling a major industry. Also included are two tape recordings of conventions, apparently proceedings not covered by paper records. The convention material generally documents arrangements, pre-convention planning, and committee work.

The MISCELLANEOUS ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS include files of President Robert C. Schuetz and Office Manager Geraldine Gallen. These files cover only 1982, and it is assumed that similar material for other years was discarded before transfer to the Historical Society. Also included are sample form letters and policy statements, a confidential internal document entitled “Equity Product” that was issued by the Prudential, and documents pertaining to two 1974 arbitration cases.

The most important part of the series consists of correspondence and other documents about affiliation with the larger national unions that represented insurance workers. This documentation begins with an extended report on merger discussions which took place in Ohio in 1944. It also includes correspondence about affiliation with both the AFL and the CIO and then with the AFL-CIO's Insurance Workers International Union during the 1950s. Unfortunately, there is no similar material in this collection on the eventual merger with the United Food and Commercial Workers. Also useful in this series is an undated draft constitution for a proposed International Council of Life Insurance Agents and copies of strike leaflets (circa 1959) that were distributed by Local 1706 (New York) of the Insurance Workers International Union.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the United Food and Commercial Workers, 1994. Accession Number: M94-219

Processing Information

Processed by Rachel Vagts (archives intern), 1996.

Mss 866	Series: Historical Records
Box   1 Folder   1	Constitutions and by-laws, 1957-1963, and revisions, , 1988
	Founding convention
Box   1 Folder   2	Minutes and correspondence, 1938
Micro 2049	Scrapbooks
Mss 866 Box   1 Folder   3	“The IULIA Story,” 1971
PH Mss 866	Photographs of union meetings and portraits of members
Mss 866	Series: Minutes	⇧
	General Executive Board and subcommittees
Box   1 Folder   4-8	1969-1973
Box   1A	1974-1975
Box   2 Folder   1-11	1976, 1978-1986, 1988
Box   2 Folder   12	Minnesota Regional Board, 1977-1987
Box   2 Folder   13-14	Ohio Regional Board, 1977-1988
Box   2 Folder   15	Wisconsin Regional Board, 1977-1988
	Series: Local Records	⇧
Box   3 Folder   1-15	Officer lists, 1974-1992
Box   3 Folder   16-22	Financial reports, 1975-1982
	Correspondence, 1981-1982
Box   3A	Locals 1-2, 4-7, 37-38, 40-41, 43, 49-50, 53-54, 56-61
Box   3B	Locals 71-77, 79, 83
	Series: Contracts	⇧
Box   4	1961-1975
Box   5	1977-1981
Box   6	1983-1985
Box   7	1987-1991
	Series: Conventions	⇧
	Proceedings
	Printed proceedings
Box   8	1938-1942, 1944
Box   9	1946-1952, 1962-1964
Box   10 Folder   1-5	1967-1976, 1985
Audio 1301A	Recorded proceedings
1301A/1	Convention proceedings, undated
1301A/2	Convention proceedings (Linda Gaston, speaker), undated
Mss 866	Convention material
Box   10 Folder   6-8	1938, 1946-1948
Box   11 Folder   1-7	1950-1954, 1958-1962, 1967
Box   11 Folder   8	Mini-Seminar, 1970
Box   11 Folder   9-12	1973-1976, 1982
	Series: Miscellaneous Administrative Records	⇧
Box   12 Folder   1	Report of General Executive Board regarding merger with AFL, 1942-1944
Box   12 Folder   2-4	Correspondence, 1948-1960, undated
Box   12 Folder   5	“Equity product,” undated
Box   12 Folder   6	Form letters, undated
Box   12 Folder   7	Gallen, Geraldine, correspondence, 1982
Box   12 Folder   8	“International Council of Life Insurance Agents,” proposed constitution, undated
Box   12 Folder   9	IWIU Local 1706 strike brochures, circa 1959
Box   12 Folder   10	Klinger/Santarelli arbitration cases, 1974
Box   12 Folder   11	Schuetz, Robert C., correspondence, 1982