The records are arranged into seven series according to the administrative functions of the WSJEA: Constitution and By-Laws; WSJEA Elections; Minutes; Correspondence; Committees; Membership Lists; and Miscellany. Due to the fact that the organization has only recently become active as a functioning union, most of the records date from the 1974-1976 period.
The CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS section contains the original 1947 constitution, and the 1972 and 1975 revisions. Other materials relating to the revision of 1975 are in the By-Laws Committee folder of the Committees Series.
WSJEA ELECTIONS material deals with the 1948 union-authorization election which was certified by the National Labor Relations Board, and the 1977 proposal to remerge with the Madison Newspaper Guild. Both files consist of correspondence and election results.
The MINUTES cover some of the WSJEA's general membership meetings, 1947-1976, including the first organizational meeting in 1947. They deal primarily with discussions of contract proposals, wages, bargaining, grievances, elections, and social activities. The minutes for 1950, 1962, 1965-1966, 1969-1971, and 1974 are missing.
The CORRESPONDENCE is divided into three groups: general, legal, and bulletin board notices. Most of the General Correspondence is management's correspondence in 1974-1976 with the WSJEA regarding job openings, promotions, and new employee notifications, services that management is required to perform by contract. The Legal Correspondence consists of answers from the Madison law firm of Lawton and Cates regarding questions of the WSJEA concerning bargaining proposals and their new constitution, 1947-1948; and the rights of strikers, and remerger with the Newspaper Guild, 1974-1975. The Bulletin Board Notices are general announcements to the membership of the WSJEA, mainly in 1975-1976, informing them of meetings, wages, parties, and bargaining progress.
The major portion of the collection is the COMMITTEES series. Since the WSJEA as a whole meets only four times a year, the responsibility for day-to-day operation of the union rests with the committees. Records are filed here for five of the six standing committees: Bargaining; By-Laws; Executive; Finance; and Grievance. No records exist for the Newspaper and Policy committee.
The Bargaining Committee files contain the contracts of the WSJEA with the Wisconsin State Journal and with Madison Newspapers, Inc., and includes every contract since 1947. They are arranged chronologically with the bargaining committee's minutes, proposals, and drafts filed before each year's final contract in order to show the progression of the bargaining. Extensive records exist for the bargaining sessions over the 1974-1977 contract. Also in the Bargaining Committee's records is a wage and salary study written in 1974, and the WSJEA's reference file of contracts of the Newspaper Guild of Madison for 1940-1948, 1958-1964, 1971; both were used as guides to bargaining.
The By-Laws Committee minutes show the drafting of the revised constitution in 1975, and detail the various proposals and drafts. Executive Committee records exist for the years 1975-1976 only and are general meeting minutes discussing contracts, membership meetings, and salaries. The Finance Committee minutes for 1975-1976 include the financial receipts and expenditures of the WSJEA. The two dues collection books, 1948-1971, list the members and the amounts they paid. The tax exemption application for 1975 has correspondence, worksheets, and bank statements relating to the application.
The Grievance Committee files contain the legally filed grievances of WSJEA members as well as several informal complaints. The grievances are arranged by the date of the specific grievance, with all related correspondence and legal briefs filed chronologically thereunder.
The MEMBERSHIP LISTS show all employees of the Wisconsin State Journal who were members of the WSJEA for the years 1972-1975. The undated list includes names and addresses; the 1975 list differentiates between full-time and parttime employees.
The MISCELLANY section includes two union songs written in 1974-1975 relating to bargaining troubles with management, a broadside from 1974 entitled, “Should We Join the Newspaper Guild?” regarding remerger with the Newspaper Guild of Madison, and several unidentified items.
