Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers records, 1942-1972

Records of legal disputes surrounding the creation of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers (AWP&PW), and related general union records from the pulp and paper industry. The bulk of the records are from lawsuits brought by the international unions after local unions in the pulp and paper industry formed the new union in 1964. There were two major cases. In Phillips vs. Perrin, before an Oregon Court, the international unions prevailed in reclaiming financial assets from the new union. In International Brotherhood vs. Delaney, before a Washington court, the local union succeeded in keeping its property from being seized by the international union from which it had disaffiliated. In both cases, the AWP&PW based its case on alleged corruption of the international unions and lack of adequate representation in grievances and bargaining, reasoning that the international unions’ rights to locals’ assets should be forfeited.

Most of the information in the legal files is contained in a large volume of exhibits, which document internal union affairs and collective bargaining from the 1950s on. The exhibits include correspondence, meeting minutes, testimony of union officers, documentation of previous court cases involving the unions and numerous documents related to union democracy. The exhibit lists in each case file are the best guide to the contents of these. The court records involve pleadings, trial transcripts, and case notes. Partial records of a number of related cases from Washington, Oregon and California also contain testimony of union officers and numerous documents.

General union records include founding documents of the AWP&PW, correspondence, meeting minutes, and convention proceedings. Publications in the records include The Amplifier (1961-1964), a rank-and-file newsletter of the West Coast pulp and paper workers, The Rebel (1970-1972), the newspaper of the AWP&PW, and several works on labor relations in the pulp and paper industry. Collective bargaining records comprise minutes of conferences and contract negotiations of the West Coast pulp and paper industry in the 1950s and 1960s.