The Journeymen Barbers' International Union of America granted a charter to Local 379 of Kenosha in 1904. The Local began with seven members and added fourteen more before the year ended. It was associated with the American Federation of Labor at least as early as 1917. The problems of maintaining a strong union were complicated by several factors. Barbers were in part regulated by law and the union shared responsibility and authority for policing the trade with the State Board of Health. Moreover, barbering was an inherently decentralized trade of independent entrepreneurs, vulnerable not only to non-union shops but also to employers organizations such as the Master Barbers' Association and the Boss Barbers. In the 1930's, Local 379 leaders perceived an additional threat to the whole union movement: communist infiltration. More recently, the International union was racked with a pension fund scandal, and a reform slate of candidates challenged the incumbent national officers. The pension fund was placed in receivership by Federal court order in 1971. Local 379 has continued to function, with perhaps a dozen members from the 1950's and earlier.
