Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
American Federation of Teachers Local 2084 records, 1970-2008
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- American Federation of Teachers--Local 2084 (Bellingham, Wash.)
- Title
- American Federation of Teachers Local 2084 records
- Dates
- 1970-2008 (inclusive)19702008
1970-1985 (bulk)19701985 - Quantity
- .5 linear ft.
- Collection Number
- XOE_CPNWS0290aft (collection)
- Summary
- The collection includes newsletters, memos, correspondence, cartoons, clippings and other records documenting union affiliation and activity among Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University) faculty during the 1970s and 1980s, as well as a small amount of material from 2008.
- Repository
-
Western Washington University, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies
Goltz-Murray Archives Building
808 25th St.
Bellingham, WA
98225
Telephone: (360) 650-7534
cpnws@wwu.edu - Access Restrictions
-
The collection is open to the public.
- Languages
- English.
Historical NoteReturn to Top
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is an international union affiliate of the AFL-CIO that was founded in 1916 to represent the economic, social and professional interests of classroom teachers. Its mission is to improve the lives of its members and their families, to give voice to their legitimate professional, economic and social aspirations, to strengthen the institutions in which they work, to improve the quality of the services they provide, to bring together all members to assist and support one another and to promote democracy, human rights and freedom in the union, the nation and throughout the world.*
In 1970, Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University) faculty formed a local chapter (Local 2084) of the American Federation of Teachers. Although the local chapter didn’t achieve formal status from the American Federation of Teachers until 2002, it was nevertheless very active during the original three-plus decades of its existence. During its history, the primary issues of concern for the local union were salary policies and reductions in the faculty workforce. The union also advocated for enabling legislation for collective bargaining among faculty at institutions of higher education.
The United Faculty of Western Washington is the current union and collective bargaining agent for Western faculty. It is an affiliate of the United Faculty of Washington State, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National Education Association.
* Source: American Federation of Teachers website, http://www.aft.org.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The American Federation of Teachers Local 2084 records date from 1970 to 1985, with a small amount of material from 2008, and consist of the program materials, membership records, and publications of the Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University) faculty union located in Bellingham, WA. The collection documents the union’s advocacy efforts during the 1970s and 1980s, which included fighting salary reductions, preventing faculty lay-offs, and pursuing enabling legislation for collective bargaining at four-year institutions of higher learning. These issues were prevalent among colleges and universities throughout the state of Washington at the same time.
Program materials contain records of the local chapter’s board, correspondence, draft proposals, and notices, bulletins, and memoranda. Membership materials include lists of active members, as well as membership packets and recruitment instructions. Publications include an incomplete set of the Western Union, the local chapter’s official publication, as well as original cartoons by union members. There are also some newspaper clippings about union-related activities both locally at Western as well as in colleges and universities throughout the state of Washington.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Preferred Citation
American Federation of Teachers Local 2084 records, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA 98225-9123.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
The American Federation of Teachers Local 2084 records are organized according to the following series arrangement:
- Series I: Program Materials
- Series II: Membership Materials
- Series III: Publications
Acquisition Information
The collection was donated in multiple installments, the first by William Lyne in June 2007, the second by Eugene Hogan in April 2008, and the third by Milton Krieger in August 2018.
Processing Note
The collection was processed by Rozlind Koester for the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies in 2008. A small addition was included in December 2018. Personal information and duplicate materials have been removed from the collection.
Processing Note
About Harmful Language and ContentTo learn more about problematic content in our collections, collection description and teaching tools (including how to provide feedback or request dialogue on this topic), see the following Statement About Potentially Harmful Language and Content
Related Materials
The J. Kaye Faulkner collection and the Don Eklund papers at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies also contain information related to union activity at Western Washington University.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
Series I : Program Materials , 1972-1985 , 2008 Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
1/1 | AFT Local 2084 history (written by a former member) |
2008 |
1/2 | Board materials |
circa 1980s |
1/3 | Correspondence |
1972-1985 |
1/4 | Draft proposal |
1972 June |
1/5 | Draft proposal |
1973 January |
1/6 | Draft proposal |
1973 September |
1/7 | Draft proposal |
1979 May |
1/8 | Notices, bulletins, and memoranda |
1970-1983 |
1/9 | Petition to Legislature |
1983 March |
1/10 | Resolutions |
1972-1975 |
1/11 | United Faculty of Western Washington materials re: collective bargaining,
salary, and teaching load |
2008 |
Series II : Membership Materials , 1970s-1980s , 2008 Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
1/12 | Membership applications |
circa 1970s-1980s |
1/13 | Membership drives |
circa 1970s-1980s |
1/14 | Membership lists |
circa 1970s-1980s |
1/15 | Membership packets |
circa 1970s-1980s; 2008 |
1/16 | Retirees' material |
2008 |
Series III : Publications , 1970s-1980s , 2008 Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
1/17 | AFT comics |
circa 1970s-1980s |
1/18 |
Western Union - official publication of the AFT Local
2084 |
1970-1976; 1982-1983 |
1/19 | Newspaper clippings |
circa 1970s-1980s |
1/20 | Newspaper clippings (Western Front, Cascadia Weekly,
letters to the editor of the Bellingham Herald, etc.) |
2008 |
1/21 | Other publications |
circa 1970s-1980s |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Collective bargaining--College teachers--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources.
- Collective labor agreements--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources.
- College teachers' unions--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources.
- College teachers' unions--Washington (State)--Bellingham--Periodicals.
- Labor disputes--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources.
- Labor unions--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources.
- Universities and colleges--Faculty--Labor unions--Washington (State)--History--Sources.
Corporate Names
- American Federation of Teachers--Local 2084 (Bellingham, Wash.)--Archives.
- Western Washington University--Faculty--History--Sources.
- Western Washington State College--Faculty--History--Sources.
Geographical Names
- Bellingham (Wash.)--History--Sources.
Form or Genre Terms
- Records (Documents)