Schaufenbil's Early Years in the Labor Movement
Scope and Content Note: His first job was in the Prairie du Chien (Wisconsin) Woolen Mill Company. He went to work there as a woolen weaver in March 1935 and worked at that job for six years. In 1938 he and others started organizing the mill, and it was chartered in 1939 as United Textile Workers of America (UTW) Local 2563. In 1940 he was elected president of the local; he proceeded from there to help organize the (Midwestern) Council of Textile Unions and was elected its president in January 1941. Based on that position, he was appointed an International representative of the UTW and placed in charge of the Midwestern area. When it was chartered, Local 2563 was virtually the only UTW local in the Midwest, but within a few years the Midwestern Council had 15 or 16 locals. In December 1941 he was elected a vice president of the UTW, which office he held until his election as secretary-treasurer in 1956. He became president in 1972.