The State Historical Society of Wisconsin received this collection in six different shipments between 1965-1972 from the UPWA international office in Chicago, Illinois and from the AMCBW of A via Leslie Orear. The records consist of the Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee Files (1937-1943), the records of the United Packinghouse Workers of America, AFL-CIO (1943-1960), and the records of United Packinghouse, Food, and Allied Workers, AFL-CIO (1960-1968). The initials UPWA officially referred to the labor organization from 1943 to 1968. In addition to the files at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, there are the UPWA's legal files retained by former General Counsel Eugene Cotton (105 West Adamson, Chicago, Illinois); and the international office of the AMCBW of A holds a small amount of international office UPWA files of the late 1960's.
This collection is arranged in 17 series: Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee (PWOC) Central Files, Constitutional Conventions, Executive Board, Office of the President, Secretary-Treasurer, Program and Education Department, Publications Department, Research Department, Sugar Division, Stockyards Division, Conferences, Canning, International Office Employees Union Files (IOEU), Arbitrations, Grievance Department, and Non-Text Materials. Each series is described more fully in the narrative below.
Processor's Notes on Correspondence
The correspondence in this collection covers a large range of labor activities including civil rights, anti-discrimination, labor legislation, women's rights, farm-labor relations, and other activities related to the functions of the union. It contains letters with national and state politicians, civil rights leaders, and other prominent people such as writers, university faculty and administrators, and international notables. The following is a partial list of UPWA correspondents:
- Abt, John
- Aguilera, George
- Anderson, Clinton P.
- Biblo, Theo. G.
- Braden, Carl and Anne
- Biberman, Herbert
- Brophy, John
- Brownell, Herbert W., Jr.
- Budenz, Lewis
- Bunche, Ralph
- Carey, James
- Ching, Cyrus
- Clark, Joseph
- Collins, LeRoy
- DiSalle, Michael V.
- Dirksen, Everett M.
- Douglas, Paul H.
- Douglas, William O.
- Dubois, Dr. W.E.B.
- Durkin, Martin
- Early, Stephen
- Feinsinger, Nathan P.
- Fleming, Robert
- Germer, Adolph
- Goldberg, Arthur
- Gore, Albert
- Gorman, Patrick E.
- Guernsey, George
- Humphrey, Hubert H.
- Harriman, Averill
- Haywood, Allan
- Henderson, Leon
- Hillman, Sidney
- Horton, Myles
- Ingersoll, Ralph
- Johnson, Lyndon B.
- Kefauver, Estes
- Kennelly, Martin H.
- Kerr, Clark
- King, Martin Luther, Jr.
- Knowles, Warren P.
- Langer, William
- Lapp, John A.
- Lasley, Russell
- Lewis, Kathryn
- Lewis, John L.
- Lodge, Henry Cabot
- Lucas, Scott
- McDonald, David
- McIntire, M. H.
- McNutt, Paul V.
- Meany, George
- Moon, Henry Lee
- Morse, Wayne
- Murray, Philip
- Nixon, Richard M.
- Norris, George W.
- Potofsky, Jack
- Pecora, Ferdinand
- Perlman, Selig
- Powell, Adam Clayton
- Pressman, Lee
- Proxmire, William
- Randolph, A. Philip
- Reuther, Walter P.
- Rieve, Emil
- Rockefeller, Nelson A.
- Roosevelt, Eleanor
- Schultz, George P.
- Sifton, Paul
- Sinclair, Upton
- Stevenson, Adlai E.
- Stern, James
- Stratton, William G.
- Taylor, George W.
- Truman, Harry S.
- Vinson, Carl
- Vinson, Fred M.
- Wade, Andrew
- Wagner, Robert F.
- Weaver, Robert C.
- Welles, Orson
- Wiley, Alexander
- Witte, Edwin
- Zander, Arnold
Districts of the Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee, 1938-1943
- District #1
- Illinois and Lake County, Illinois. Does not include E. Saint Louis, Ill.
- District #2
- Minnesota , Northern Wisconsin, the Dakotas, and Montana
- District #3
- Iowa and Nebraska
- District #4
- Kansas, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Ill.
- District #5
- California, Utah, and rest of West Coast
- District #6
- New York and New Jersey
- District #7
- Indiana (except Lake County) and Kentucky
- District #8
- Southern Wisconsin, including Milwaukee and Cudahy. Merged into District #1 in 1943
- District #9
- Michigan and Ohio
- District #10
- Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia
- District #11
- New England. Merged into District #6 in 1943
- District #12
- Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Becomes District #8 in 1943
- District #13
- Colorado, rest of Rocky Mountains. Merged into District #3 in 1943
- District #14
- Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennesee, and Virginia. Becomes District #9 in 1943
- District #15
- Canada. Becomes District #10 in 1943
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
PACKINGHOUSE WORKERS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (PWOC) CENTRAL FILES, 1937-1943. 12 boxes.
The bulk of the PWOC records are contained in these Central Files. There is, however, some material prior to 1943 scattered in the records of the UPWA Office of the President, the Secretary-Treasurer, and the Program Department.
The PWOC Central Files consist of a combined subject and correspondence file arranged in alphabetical order. The records document the PWOC's organizing and negotiating activities with major meat packing companies and other events leading to the formal organization of the UPWA. In addition, there is considerable correspondence with officers of UPWA's parent organization, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). When the UPWA was formally organized in 1943, the functions and the files of the PWOC were continued in the Office of the President under Lewis J. Clark.
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS, 1947-1964. 13 boxes.
Although the convention file contains a few items of correspondence in the form of letters, telegrams, and reports to the convention, the majority of its records are mimeographed or printed copies of the convention proceedings. Arranged in chronological order, the convention proceedings record questions and debates which took place at UPWA conventions, as well as resolutions, officers' reports, guests' speeches, and committee reports. The subject matter includes employees' relations with employers, the condition of the economy, wage and contract negotiations, anti-discrimination, civil rights, political activities, internal friction, women's rights, relations with government agencies, and labor legislation. Additional information on the Constitutional Convention is available in various departmental files and includes correspondence, internal memos, committee reports, and convention planning material.
EXECUTIVE BOARD, 1943-1955. 8 boxes.
The Executive Board served as UPWA's governing body between conventions. Composed of the officers of the international union and one director for each district, its function was to advise and control the overall activity of the officers and district directors. Between the quarterly meetings of the Executive Board, the union was governed by its officers whose actions were subject to review by the board.
The Executive Board files, arranged chronologically, consist of mimeographed proceedings of the board and some related correspondence for the period 1943-1951. The Executive Board meetings between 1951 and 1955 were taped and are described under the final series, Non-Text Materials. The subject matter of the Executive Board meetings includes administrative and policy matters affecting the operation of the international union, its relations with local unions and employees (including negotiations for master contracts with employer corporations), finance, publicity, anti-discrimination, arbitration, appointments of field representatives and department heads, the merger conferences with the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of America, and convention arrangements.
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, 1946-1968. 260 boxes.
These files, the most comprehensive records of the UPWA, document the majority of the union's activities and the activity of its second and last president, Ralph Helstein. The series contained under the Office of the President are the Correspondence and Subject Files, commonly known as “Helstein's Files” (1946-1965), the Contract Administration Files (1940-1964), the Wage Rate Files (1942-1956), the Automation Committee Files (1957-1963), the House Un-American Activities Committee Files {1959-1962), and Puerto Rico Correspondence and Subject Files (1952-1961). The Correspondence and Subject Files, 1943-1945, of UPWA's first president, Lewis J. Clark, are included with his Secretary-Treasurer's files.
Correspondence and Subject Files, 1946-1965. 154 boxes.
Arranged in chronological order by year and alphabetically thereunder by folder, the Correspondence and Subject Files were commonly known as “Helstein's Files.” They contain correspondence and related documents of the President, the Vice Presidents, special committees, and other staff. The records include correspondence of union officers, department heads, and representatives. The files consist of general correspondence, internal organizational memos, circulars, reports, clippings, speeches, arbitration briefs, wage studies, statistical data, newsletters, and pamphlets. This material relates to administrative matters--questions of policy and actions taken by union officers, department heads, and representatives. There is extensive correspondence between staff personnel and other organizations concerning coordination of objectives, labor activities, and personnel matters.
Contract Administration, 1940-1964. 83 boxes.
Although Contract Administration was a separate department, its activities were carefully supervised by President Ralph Helstein and his immediate staff. Beginning in 1956, the Contract Administration Department assumed the functions of the Grievance Department and the Wage Rate Department. The records are arranged in four segments: a subject and correspondence file {1940-1964), a Puerto Rico and local contracts file (1945-1961), a Canada file (1958-1961), and a master agreements file (1945-1962). Materials in these files prior to 1956 came from the Grievance Department files, the Ralph Helstein General Counsel files, and the Contract Negotiations files of the Office of the President.
The Subject and Correspondence Files, 1940-1964 (28 boxes), are arranged in alphabetical order and contain materials relating to the negotiations and agreements between the UPWA and major meat packing companies. The files consist of correspondence with government agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board and with meat packing companies, plus inter-office communications.
The Puerto Rico and Local Contracts, 1945-1961, and Canada Files, 1958-1961 (52 boxes), are in order by local number and then chronologically. These records contain mimeographed and printed contracts and agreements which were in the final stages of negotiation. In addition, there are documents scattered throughout these records which document the different aspects of a given contract or agreement.
The Master Agreements records, 1945-1962 (3 boxes), are arranged alphabetically according to the major meat packing companies and contain the master agreements made by UPWA (International) for local unions, districts, and the international union.
Wage Rate Department, 1942-1956. 14 boxes.
This series contains the records of the Wage Rate Department prior to its merger with the Contract Administration Department in 1956. The files contain letters, memoranda, and questionnaires on wages, cost and earnings data, and other materials collected or developed by the Wage Rate Department for the National War Labor Board during World War II, the National Wage Stabilization Board, and for the use of the UPWA in contract negotiations or arbitration cases which related to specific grievances. Other departments, especially Research, assisted in gathering wage rate data.
Automation Committee, 1957-1963. 1 box.
The Automation Committee files contain reports, correspondence, and memos concerning the number of UPWA members displaced by technological advances. In preparing these studies, the Automation Committee used extensive material relating to Armour and Company taken from sample grievances in the Grievance Department files.
House Un-American Activities Committee, 1959-1962. 2 boxes.
These files consist of legal briefs, correspondence, reports, and clippings on the House Un-American Activities Committee's probings into the UPWA and other international unions' activities. The files contain UPWA documentation of the investigations and extensive correspondence of A. T. Stephens concerning HUAC's assertions. In addition, there are local union resolutions, and officers' reports and articles which document how UPWA reacted to HUAC's investigations.
Puerto Rico Correspondence and Subject Files, 1952-1961. 5 boxes.
Arranged in alphabetical order, these files document the UPWA Puerto Rico sugar unions' relations with the international UPWA. They contain address lists, extensive correspondence, labor hearing briefs, leaflets, negotiation material, and a UPWA constitution (Spanish Translation, 1954).
SECRETARY-TREASURER, 1941-1964. 53 boxes.
Integrated into the files of the UPWA Secretary-Treasurer are PWOC financial records (1941-1943) and the files of the first president, Lewis J. Clark (1943-1945). PWOC material can be found in the Subject and Correspondence files (1941-1958), District Correspondence (1941-1945) and District and Local Union Constitution Files (1941-1961). The Office of the President's records during Lewis J. Clark's tenure (1943, 1945), are integrated into the subject and correspondence files.
Subject and Correspondence Files, 1941-1958. 17 boxes.
Arranged in chronological periods then alphabetically by folder title, these files consist of correspondence -- telegrams, teletypes, circulars, and internal memos -- financial reports, pamphlets, and newsletters. The material relates to UPWA administrative and financial policies, reports to the federal government, arrangements for meetings and conventions, and reports of local unions. Much of the correspondence of the Secretary-Treasurer is contained within the Central Files of the Office of the President.
District Correspondence, 1941-1952. 9 boxes.
Although the material in these files is quite similar to the Secretary-Treasurer's correspondence and subject files, the subject areas differ. The papers are arranged by district and relate to local union conditions within a district, employer relations with employees and the community, grievances, organizing of local unions, and district coordination of UPWA programs.
Local Union Correspondence, 1943-1952. 12 boxes.
These records, arranged numerically from Local Union #1 to #324 relate to the same subjects as those in the District Correspondence files; however, they relate specifically to the local unions, and their problems with employers, reports to the federal government, local union friction, community relations, financial problems, and negotiations at the local level.
Local Union Constitution Files, 1941-1961. 5 boxes.
Arranged numerically by Local from #1 to #1095, these files give a good sampling of Local Union constitutions and their amendments which had to be submitted to the UPWA international office for approval. In addition, there is some related correspondence concerning changes proposed by the international office.
Local Union Monthly Reports of Membership and Fees, 1958-1959, 1964. 7 boxes.
These are monthly per capita reports to the international office on printed forms which give the number of members, amount of dues collected, initiation fees, strike funds, and the amounts forwarded to the international office. The files also include lists of officers and related correspondence.
Accounts, 1953-1957. 3 boxes.
Arranged by account # from 11-A - 713, the files relate to businesses, locals and districts, banks, and individuals with which the UPWA had financial transactions. It also contains some correspondence relating to the reasons why money was transferred and where deposits and payments were made.
PROGRAM AND EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, 1942-1968. 65 boxes.
The functions of the Program and Education Department from 1956 to 1968 were to supervise committee activities authorized by the National Executive Board or by the officers and to assist other departments. Its committees included the Political Action Committee (PAC) and the Committee on Political Education (COPE). In addition, its education section was responsible for steward training, community relations, women's activities, farm-labor relations, and Pan American affairs. Also included are files on labor and UPWA history and papers in Spanish with English translations.
The Program Department began informally with program coordinators before 1950. In 1953 through the recommendations of the Committee on Reorganization, the education function and records of the Publicity and Education Department (1943-1953) were transferred to the Program Department.
Another merger came in 1956 when the functions of the Anti-Discrimination Department (1950-1956) were added to the Program and Education Department. The files of the Anti-Discrimination Department and its predecessor, the Anti-Discrimination Committee (1944-1950), were also intermingled within the subject and correspondence files of the Program Department.
ORGANIZATION DEPARTMENT, 1945-1956, 1967-1968. 38 boxes.
The functions of the Organization Department were mainly the recruitment of new members and the organizing of new locals. Involved in this process were campaigning in employee elections for the recognition of the union as bargaining agent, preparing and distributing leaflets and news releases, preparing talks, visiting prospective members, organizing strike actions, and negotiating with employers.
Organizers' Reports - Districts and Locals, 1947-1953, 1967-1968. 20 boxes.
This is a file of reports on printed forms submitted by international representatives and field representatives each week. Subjects specified on the form are: the nature of the current campaigning and its progress; education; anti-discrimination activities; farm-labor; and other -- which includes strikes, negotiations, and local union problems. The Organizers' Weekly Reports (Locals), 1967-1968, went directly to the Office of the President; however because of their nature, they have been filed with the Organization Department.
Subject and Correspondence Files, 1945-1956. 18 boxes.
These files include correspondence (telegrams, teletypes, letters & circulars), memoranda, clippings and bulletins, press releases, reports, arbitration awards, and expense statements. It has material concerning employers' financial status and operating methods, employee working conditions and wages, and community attitudes and includes other materials produced by the Research Department and Education and Publicity Department. Other subjects relate to the organization of educational programs, steward training, political actions, district finances and community programs. In addition, the records contain reports of officers and representatives concerning their appearances before state and federal legislative committees, and their problems with local prejudice, arrests, harrassment, and violence.
PUBLICATIONS DEPARTMENT, 1945-1968. 30 boxes.
Originally Publications was the Publicity and Education Department. In 1953, however, the educational responsibilities in the UPWA were transferred to the Program Department, and the principal functions of the Publications Department became to publish the Packinghouse Worker, Economic Outlook, On the Beam, leaflets, pamphlets, and other materials needed by the union.
Correspondence and Subject Files, 1946-1968. 28 boxes.
These files were kept by the Publications Department mainly for editorial and correspondence purposes. The subject folders cover the names of individuals, labor organizations, meat packing companies, and other subjects relating to the UPWA. This series has information relating to economic and employment statistics, the cost of living, labor legislation, civil and women's rights and other subjects.
Publications Files, 1948, 1958-1964. 1 box.
Contain Economic Outlook and On the Beam newsletters for 1948 and the Staff Newsletter, 1958-1964.
Editor and Education Director's Files, 1945-1948. 2 boxes.
These are Svend Godredson's files and contain correspondence and mimeographed material of the UPWA Executive Officers, UPWA International Representatives, CIO officials, and the CIO Political Action Committee.
RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, 1941-1967. 38 boxes.
The records of this department are arranged into two subseries: an alphabetical subject and correspondence file, and publications. The files consist of material derived from three main sources: (1) the administrative work of the Research Department and its relations with other departments of the union, other unions, and the general public; (2) the research function of the department exemplified in the studies, statistical data, memoranda, news releases, and other papers generated in performance of research work; and (3) the collection of information for the Research Department by others in the union. This also includes files from the Office of the President and other departments which were borrowed for research purposes and never returned to their original files.
SUGAR DIVISION, 1946-1954. 2 boxes.
These files consist of material concerning Sugar Conferences, sugar local unions, UPWA organizing attempts to unionize sugar workers, and reports on the sugar industry in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Other material on the sugar industry and Puerto Rico can be found in the President's files, District #9 files throughout the collection, and Research Department files.
STOCKYARDS DIVISION, 1955-1966. 8 boxes.
These records relate to the local unions of stockhandlers which were serviced by the international UPWA through the Stockyards Division, and are arranged under the headings of grievance files, subject and correspondence files, and bulletins and conferences. The subjects of these files relate to job conditions, wages, grievances, contract negotiations, discrimination, health insurance, and seniority. In addition, correspondence and other materials in this file show the relationship of the UPWA with stockyards, transportation unions, and packing companies.
CONFERENCES, 1943-1963. 6 boxes.
Arranged chronologically the conference material consists of bound volumes of reports, discussions, and subjects similar to those of the Constitutional Convention Files. However, conferences usually covered only certain areas such as wages and policies, UPWA-CIO Strike Strategy Committee, and women's activities. Other conferences related to such subjects as contracts, anti-discrimination, civil rights, and legislation.
CANNING, 1957-1960. 1 box.
These files consist of bulletins, conference materials, contracts, and general information on union organizing activities in canning companies.
INTERNATIONAL OFFICE EMPLOYEES UNION FILES (IOEU), 1951-1960. 2 boxes.
This union represented employees of the international UPWA office with the exception of field representatives, international representatives, and department heads. These files contain the IOEU by-laws, by-laws committee recommendations, correspondence, memoranda, and negotiation materials with the UPWA.
ARBITRATIONS, 1944-1962. 8 boxes.
Mainly arranged alphabetically by names of meat packing companies, these records contain correspondence, memoranda, briefs and arbitration decisions relating to major disputes which affected the whole union. Questions relating to local issues were usually handled at lower levels; however, the international union facilities were made available in many cases, and are frequently documented in this file.
GRIEVANCE DEPARTMENT, 1943-1965. 70 cartons and 1 box.
The arrangement of these files is by employer, then by local union number, and finally chronologically by year. Within that arrangement, the files are further sub-divided into grievances settled, grievances withdrawn, and correspondence.
This department's files relate to grievances filed by employees against the employer on printed forms. Related papers are appeal forms, notices of arbitrations, and in some cases affidavits, reports and newspaper clippings.
NON-TEXT MATERIALS, 1946-1968. 41 tape recordings, 20 disc recordings, and 4 films.
Tape recordings were mainly used by the UPWA for Board of Directors' meetings, conventions, and conferences. However, there are also tapes of speeches made to the general public by Ralph Helstein (1959, 1967), President John F. Kennedy (1963), and Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire (1958). Also included are disc recordings and untitled film footage of the 1956 and 1959 conventions and of meat cutters at work in unsanitary conditions.
