Archives West Finding Aid

Scope and Content: This accession spans the years 1930-1986 and consist primarily of records created or compiled by John Eyer during his work as an educator and representative for the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers and the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers. Some material related to the United Papermakers and Paperworkers union is also included. These records feature John Eyer’s involvement with a variety of paper worker locals across the West Coast, from British Columbia to Southern California, including the performance of job analyses, as well as union local and parent organization engagement with major paper companies, such as Weyerhaeuser, Crown Simpson, and Georgia-Pacific. This accession also highlights tensions between the International and its membership where a faction of members formed the Rank and File Movement for Democratic Action (RFMDA) which emerged into rebel union, Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers in 1964. Also included is a small series of personal papers of Eyer’s consisting of records related to his non-union organizational involvement, family correspondence and birth and death records, and information on Oregon state and national politics.

Materials consist of a large quantity of correspondence to and from Eyer and other International and AWPPW officers and rank and file members, as well as reports; meeting minutes; grievance and arbitration files; contract agreements and constitutions; flyers, pamphlets, and other ephemera; Eyer's handwritten notes and article drafts; news clippings, newsletters, and full newspaper publications, primarily that published by paper worker locals; and several photographs (maintained in their original arrangement and noted in the collection inventory). Subject matter includes strikes; contract negotiations and collective bargaining, including the Uniform Labor Agreement; wages, including union attempts to address the gender pay gap; health insurance, pensions, and other benefits; job analyses of union locals; education and union training programs; arbitration and grievances; paper mill water pollution; election of officers; and elections for union representation.

Note- there is considerable overlap and potential duplication of material across the series in this accession but are maintained in their original arrangement in order to preserve the varied reasons why and how these records were kept. For more detailed description of each series, please see the collection inventory below.

Scope and Content: Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers (AWPPW) records, primarily of Local 68 in Oregon City, Oregon, including correspondence, newsletters, notes, and administrative documents.