Archives West Finding Aid

The American Federation of Teachers, Local 336 is the oldest teacher's union local in Washington State. The union formed in 1934, in the wake of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) of 1933. Both NIRA and the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, granted collective bargaining rights for workers in most private sector industries but did not guarantee them for public sector workers. Thus, the members of Local 336 organized before teachers and other public employees were legally protected to bargain collectively. Local 336 was the first teacher's union in the nation to be recognized as the sole collective bargaining agent for all teachers within a school district and to successfully negotiate a binding collective bargaining agreement with the school board. The union was also called the Bremerton Federation of Teachers, Local 336 and was affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers as well as the Washington State Federation of Teachers.