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Morrison-Knudsen Company Labor Relations Records, 1944-1963

Overview of the Collection

Title
Morrison-Knudsen Company Labor Relations Records
Dates
1944-1963 (inclusive)
Quantity
4.25 linear feet, (4 boxes and 8 microfilm reels)
Collection Number
MSS 022
Summary
Chiefly labor agreements and contracts for construction projects built by the firm in Idaho and other western states; together with associated correspondence, memoranda, and wage schedules.
Repository
Boise State University Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
1910 University Drive
Boise ID
83725
Telephone: 2084263990
archives@boisestate.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is available for research.

Languages
English
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Content Description

Chiefly labor agreements and contracts for construction projects built by the firm in Idaho and other western states; together with associated correspondence, memoranda, and wage schedules.

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Historical Note

Morrison-Knudsen (also known as M-K) was an engineering and construction firm founded in Boise in 1912. Created by Morris Hans Knudsen and Harry Winford Morrison, they completed heavy construction projects across the United States as well as 71 foreign countries. M-K is mostly known for their participation in the construction of the Hoover Dam, San Francisco Bay Bridge, Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center and 153 miles of the Trans-Alaskan pipeline.

In South America, they are known for partnerships in the Cerrejón Coal Mine in Colombia, the Itaipu hydro electric dam on the Paraguay-Brazil border, and contracts for segments of the Trans-Andean highway. In South-East Asia, M-K was a major partner in RMK-BRJ, a private company joint venture to build infrastructure for the United States military during the Vietnam War. In Central Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East, M-K built irrigation systems, airports, and military infrastructure to aid the U.S. in Cold War diplomacy from the late 1940s through the 1970s.

When energy shortages and Cold War détente lowed demand for international construction, M-K shifted to domestic and foreign diversification including: mass transit, resource extraction, residential property development and locomotive manufacturing. By the late 1980s and into the 1990s, M-K experienced a decline in revenue and in 1996 the company was sold to Dennis Washington, owner of a smaller but similar firm. After a few years of recovery and stabilization. Morrison-Knudsen Corp. was renamed Washington Group International. In 2007 that company was sold to United Research Services (URS).

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[item description], Morrison-Knudsen Company Labor Relations Records, Box [number] Folder [number], Boise State University Special Collections and Archives.

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Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Gifts of Morrison-Knudsen, 1977 and 1988.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

  • Agreements, Negotiations, and Contracts with Labor Unions

  • Projects

    • Description: Alcan Project, British Columbia
      Dates: 1952-1955
      Container: Box 3, Folder 26-28
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Arco, Idaho
      Dates: 1953-1954
      Container: Box 4, Folder 1-2
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Atlanta, Idaho
      Dates: 1955
      Container: Box 4, Folder 3
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Boston Water Tunnel
      Dates: 1954-1955
      Container: Box 4, Folder 4
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Caliente, Nevada
      Dates: 1954
      Container: Box 4, Folder 5
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Columbia Basin
      Dates: 1948-1953
      Container: Box 4, Folder 6-9
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Jackson Lake Lodge Developments
      Dates: 1949-1955
      Container: Box 4, Folder 10
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Los Angeles South Gate Shop
      Dates: 1953
      Container: Box 4, Folder 11
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Mountain Home Air Force Base
      Dates: 1953-1955
      Container: Box 4, Folder 12
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Nellis Air Force Base
      Dates: 1953
      Container: Box 4, Folder 13
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Pendleton, Oregon, Pipeline
      Dates: 1955
      Container: Box 4, Folder 14
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Pittsburgh Steel Plant
      Dates: 1950
      Container: Box 4, Folder 15
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Rosebury, Oregon, No Umpqua Power Plant
      Dates: 1952-1953
      Container: Box 4, Folder 16
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Sacramento Valley
      Dates: 1956-1958
      Container: Box 4, Folder 17
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Salt Lake Fill, Lucin Cut-off
      Dates: 1956-1958
      Container: Box 4, Folder 18
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Spokane Shop
      Dates: 1952-1957
      Container: Box 4, Folder 19
      Location: Projects
    • Description: The Dalles, Oregon
      Dates: 1955
      Container: Box 4, Folder 20
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Twentynine Palms, California
      Dates: 1953
      Container: Box 4, Folder 21
      Location: Projects
    • Description: West Glacier, Montana, Highway Surfacing
      Dates: 1952
      Container: Box 4, Folder 22
      Location: Projects
    • Description: White Alice, Alaska
      Dates: 1956
      Container: Box 4, Folder 23
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Railroad Division, Wyoming
      Dates: 1952
      Container: Box 4, Folder 24
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Bull Shoals, Cotter, Arkansas
      Dates: 1948-1953
      Container: Box 4, Folder 26-27
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Davis Dam, California
      Dates: 1947
      Container: Box 4, Folder 28
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Detroit Dam, Oregon
      Dates: 1949
      Container: Box 4, Folder 29
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Diablo Dam, Washington
      Dates: 1950
      Container: Box 4, Folder 30
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Garrison Dam, North Dakota
      Dates: 1948-1951
      Container: Box 4, Folder 31
      Location: Projects
    • Description: C.J. Strike Dam, Idaho
      Dates: 1950-1951
      Container: Box 4, Folder 32
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Hungry Horse Dam, Montana
      Dates: 1948-1952
      Container: Box 4, Folder 33
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Jamex Dam Outlet Works, New Mexico
      Dates: 1949-1950
      Container: Box 4, Folder 34
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Kortes Dam and Power Plant, Wyoming
      Dates: 1946
      Container: Box 4, Folder 35
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Littleton Dam, New Hampshire
      Dates: 1954
      Container: Box 4, Folder 36
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Lucky Peak Dam, Idaho
      Dates: 1952
      Container: Box 4, Folder 37
      Location: Projects
    • Description: McNary Dam, Oregon
      Dates: 1950-1952
      Container: Box 4, Folder 38
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Palisades Dam, Idaho
      Dates: 1952
      Container: Box 4, Folder 39
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Timothy Meadows Dam, Oregon
      Dates: 1952
      Container: Box 4, Folder 40
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Tri-Dam Project, California; Yale Dam, Washington
      Dates: 1955
      Container: Box 4, Folder 41
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Yale Dam
      Dates: 1951-1952
      Container: Box 4, Folder 42
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Durkee, Oregon
      Dates: 1953
      Container: Box 4, Folder 43
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Fairchild Airforce Base Contract
      Dates: 1955
      Container: Box 4, Folder 44
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Black Canyon Project, Emmett, Idaho
      Dates: 1952
      Container: Box 4, Folder 45
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Granite Canyon, Wyoming
      Dates: 1953
      Container: Box 4, Folder 46
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Hanford Engineering Works
      Dates: 1947-1955
      Container: Box 4, Folder 47-48
      Location: Projects
    • Description: Hinkle, Oregon
      Dates: 1950
      Container: Box 4, Folder 49
      Location: Projects

  • Microfilm

    • Description: Mt. Pacific and Tacoma AGC 1952 thru MINUTES OF MEETINGS COLUMBIA BASIN CONTRS. (77-52)
      Dates: 1944-1960
      Container: Oversize drawers 9035, Drawer 2
      Location: Microfilm
    • Description: COLUMBIA BASIN 1952 thru MT. PACIFIC AND TACOMA AGC 1949-1950 (77-51)
      Dates: 1950-1960
      Container: Oversize drawers 9035, Drawer 2
      Location: Microfilm
    • Description: AGREEMENTS AND CORRES., CAL. OLD AGREEMENTS 1956 thru MONTANA AGC 1961-1962 (#1)
      Dates: 1956-1963
      Container: Oversize drawers 9035, Drawer 2
      Location: Microfilm
    • Description: AGREEMENTS AND CORRES., MONTANA AGC 1961-1962 thru UTAH SAND AND GRAVEL 1969 (#2)
      Dates: 1956-1963
      Container: Oversize drawers 9035, Drawer 2
      Location: Microfilm
    • Description: WYOMING AGC thru DETROIT DAM LABOR AGRMT. (77-50)
      Dates: 1950-1960
      Container: Oversize drawers 9035, Drawer 2
      Location: Microfilm
    • Description: MISC. AGRMTS. thru GRANITE CANYON, WYOMING (77-54)
      Dates: 1950-1960
      Container: Oversize drawers 9035, Drawer 2
      Location: Microfilm
    • Description: WASHINGTON D.C. AGC 1959 thru KINGS RIVER CONSTR. - WAGE RATES (77-53)
      Dates: 1950-1960
      Container: Oversize drawers 9035, Drawer 2
      Location: Microfilm
    • Description: EMMETT, IDAHO AGREEMENT thru GRIEVANCE REPORTS - KING RIVER (77-55)
      Dates: 1950-1960
      Container: Oversize drawers 9035, Drawer 2
      Location: Microfilm

Cheryl Oestreicher
2014; updated 2023 and 2024

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