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UNITE HERE! Local 8 records, approximately 1900-2007

Overview of the Collection

Creator
UNITE HERE (Organization). Local 8
Title
UNITE HERE! Local 8 records
Dates
approximately 1900-2007 (inclusive)
Quantity
32.99 cubic feet (37 boxes and 1 folder)
Collection Number
6290 (Accession No. 6290-001)
Summary
Records of UNITE HERE! Local 8, a union representing workers in the hospitality industry in Oregon and Washington as well as the records of earlier local craft unions which merged to form it.
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Access to portions of the collection is restricted. Contact University of Washington Libraries Special Collections for details.

Request at UW

Languages
English
Sponsor
Full processing supported by the Labor Archives Fund and the Labor Archives of Washington State Budget
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Historical Note

UNITE HERE is an international labor union in the United States and Canada with roughly 300,000 active members. The union represents workers in the hotel, food service, laundry, warehouse, and casino gaming industries. The union was formed by a 2004 merger of two international unions: the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE) and Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE).

In 2005, UNITE HERE withdrew from the AFL-CIO and joined the Change to Win Federation, along with several other unions, including the Teamsters, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the UFCW. In May 2009, union president Bruce Raynor (originally from UNITE) left UNITE HERE, taking with him numerous local unions and between 105,000 and 150,000 members, mostly garment workers and a labor-owned bank, Amalgamated Bank. They formed a new SEIU affiliate called Workers United. In 2009, UNITE HERE re-affiliated with the AFL-CIO.

HERE local unions in larger cities were typically organized on a craft basis, with separate organizations for job classifications such as cooks, waitresses, waiters, bartenders and hotel employees. Where separate craft local unions existed, there was often a Local Joint Executive Board which coordinated between the craft locals. UNITE HERE! Local 8 was formed in 2004 as a result of the merger of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) and the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE). It represents workers in the hospitality industry in Oregon and Washington. Local 8 of the Hotel, Motel and Restaurant Employees Union was formed in 1984 by a merger of Puget Sound-area locals 3, 33, 487, 551, and 596. Other local unions in Washington and Oregon later merged into Local 8 as well.

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Content Description

Union records in this collection consist primarily of meeting minutes, membership records, and financial records. The membership records are mainly in the form of dues ledgers, which record members' initiation date and dues payments as well as suspension and reinstatement dates and transfers between local unions. In some cases these ledgers record workers' home addresses and employers.

These records are organized in record subgroups corresponding to the local organization that created them.

Local 8 records in this collection have some overlap with the records of the local unions which merged to form it. Local 8 records include minutes (1974-1979), membership records (1971-1991), financial records (1978-1986), as well as constitutions and bylaws of related local unions (1927-1984).

Records from Seattle-area local unions include those from Cooks and Assistants, Local 33 (membership records, 1908-1977); Waitresses, Local 240 (membership records, 1900-1960; financial records, 1963-1970); Dining Room Employees, Local 3 - a merger of the Waiters Local 239 and Waitresses, Local 240 (membership records, 1950-1970); Bartenders Union, Local 487 (meeting minutes, 1942-1971; membership records, 1918-1967; financial records, 1919-1934); and Hotel, Motel and Club Service Employees, Local 551 (membership records, 1947-1970). Records of the Seattle Joint Executive Board include meeting attendance records (1915-1976), financial records (1903-1974), and collective bargaining records (1957-1975).

Spokane, Local 400 records include collective bargaining records (1943-1979) and legal records (1980-1983).

Tacoma Joint Local Executive Board records include correspondence and legal records (1969-1976). Records from Tacoma, Local 61 include meeting minutes (1902-1979), membership records (1901-1953), financial records (1901-1969) and collective bargaining records (1917-1970). Local 61, together with Bartenders Union, Local 711, merged to form Local 20 in 1979; this organization is represented here by a small group of records. Tacoma Local 61 established the Local 61 Building Corporation to own and manage its union hall in downtown Tacoma, which it purchased in 1945. Records of this corporation include minutes, property and financial records, and correspondence related to the ownership of the building (1945-1976).

Other local union records include those from local unions in Aberdeen (Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders' Union, Local 791), Bellingham (Culinary and Beverage Workers Union, Local 529), Everett (Culinary Workers and Bartenders, Local 451), Bremerton (Cooks and Waiters Culinary Alliance, Local 730), and Renton (Culinary Workers and Bartenders, Local 596).

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Other Descriptive Information

Forms part of the Labor Archives of Washington.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, UNITE HERE! Local 8 records, 6290-001, box number, folder number.

Restrictions on Use

Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The UNITE HERE LOCAL 8 record group is arranged into 5 series. The remainder of the collection is arranged into 16 subgroups:

  • SERIES 1: MINUTES
  • SERIES 2: MEMBERSHIP RECORDS
  • SERIES 3: FINANCIAL RECORDS
  • SERIES 4: CONSTITUTIONS AND BYLAWS OF LOCAL 8 AND RELATED LOCAL UNIONS
  • SERIES 5: REFERENCE MATERIALS, ARTIFACTS AND EPHEMERA
  • SUBGROUP 1: SEATTLE JOINT LOCAL EXECUTIVE BOARD
  • SUBGROUP 2: COOKS AND ASSISTANTS LOCAL 33, SEATTLE
  • SUBGROUP 3: WAITRESSES LOCAL 240, SEATTLE
  • SUBGROUP 4: DINING ROOM EMPLOYEES LOCAL 3, SEATTLE
  • SUBGROUP 5: BARTENDERS LOCAL 487, SEATTLE
  • SUBGROUP 6: HOTEL, MOTEL AND CLUB SERVICE EMPLOYEES UNION LOCAL 551, SEATTLE
  • SUBGROUP 7: HOTEL, MOTEL AND RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES LOCAL 400, SPOKANE
  • SUBGROUP 8: TACOMA JOINT LOCAL EXECUTIVE BOARD
  • SUBGROUP 9: HOTEL, MOTEL AND RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES LOCAL 61, TACOMA
  • SUBGROUP 10: LOCAL 20, TACOMA
  • SUBGROUP 11: HOTEL AND RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES AND BARTENDERS LOCAL 791, ABERDEEN
  • SUBGROUP 12: CULINARY AND BEVERAGE WORKERS UNION LOCAL 529, BELLINGHAM
  • SUBGROUP 13: CULINARY WORKERS AND BARTENDERS UNION LOCAL 451, EVERETT
  • SUBGROUP 14: COOKS AND WAITERS CULINARY ALLIANCE LOCAL 730, BREMERTON
  • SUBGROUP 15: CULINARY WORKERS AND BARTENDERS LOCAL 596, RENTON
  • SUBGROUP 16: LOCAL 61 BUILDING CORPORATION

Acquisition Information

Donated by UNITE HERE! Local 8

Separated Materials

Material Described Separately:

Bound issues of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees' International Alliance and Bartenders' International League of America's journal The Mixer and Server and its predecessor publication, The Catering Industry Employee , were removed from the collection and cataloged separately as a part of Special Collections' serials.

Appraisal Notes

The UNITE HERE Local 8 website has been regularly captured by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine sine 2013. The snapshots can be viewed here: https://wayback.archive-it.org/3988/*/http://www.unitehere8.org/ .

The UNITE HERE Local 8 Facebook page has been regularly captured by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine since 2014. The snapshots can be viewed here: https://wayback.archive-it.org/3988/*/http://www.facebook.com/Local8

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Food industry and trade--Employees--Labor unions--Washington (State)--History--Archives
  • Labor movement--Washington (State)
  • Labor unions--Washington (State)
  • Labor--Washington (State)
  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)

Corporate Names

  • Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union--History--Archives
  • UNITE HERE (Organization). Local 8--History--Archives
  • Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees--History--Archives

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names

    • Labor Archives of Washington (University of Washington) (curator)


2019 (Last modified: 7/22/2022)

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