XOE_CPNWS0084awppw Guide to the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, Everett Kraft Mill Local #10 records circa 1946-1989 Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, Everett Kraft Mill Local #10 records Finding aid prepared by Joshua Zimmerman Western Washington University, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies © 2006
Goltz-Murray Building 808 25th St Bellingham, WA 98225-9123 Phone: 360 650 7534 Email: cpnws@wwu.edu
Finding aid encoded by Joshua Zimmerman 2006 November 3 Finding aid written in English. Center for Pacific Northwest Studies
Goltz-Murray Building 808 25th St Bellingham, WA 98225-9123 Phone: 360 650 7534 Email: cpnws@wwu.edu
XOE_CPNWS0084awppw Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, Everett Kraft Mill Local #10 Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, Everett Kraft Mill Local #10 records circa 1945-1989 1 linear foot The collection documents the Everett Kraft Mill Local #10 of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers union and contains by-laws, employer agreements, meeting minutes, strike materials, and newsletters. It also includes records pertaining to the 1970s strike action taken by Weyerhaeuser employees at this Everett mill. Collection materials are in English.

The Weyerhaeuser Company began timber operations in the Everett area around 1900 with the construction of their first sawmill. The company continued to grow and eventually expanded into the papermaking industry. In 1953, the second of two kraft mills opened operations. Kraft mills were a vital step in the production of paper pulp. The kraft process utilized sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide to extract the harmful but naturally occurring degenerative chemical, lignin, from wood fibers. The workers in the Everett Weyerhaeuser Mill were organized first as the Local 236 of the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers. In 1965, as corruption supposedly filled the ranks of the International Brotherhood, the workers then joined the newly formed the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers. The AWPPW's motto, adopted in 1965, was and still is, "Guard Well the Democratic Rights of Your Members." They bill themselves as one of the most democratic unions in the country. The Everett Kraft Mill Local #10 was active at the Weyerhaeuser Mill, where employees struck on numerous occasions throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The AWPPW and the Weyerhaeuser Company operate to this day, while the Everett Kraft Mill and the Local 10 do not.

The Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers (AWPPW), Everett Kraft Mill Local #10 records include by-laws, employer agreements, labor contracts, meeting minutes, strike materials, correspondence, and newsletters documenting the activities and interests of this local Everett union. The records span from 1946 to 1989, but the vast majority corresponds to the 1960s and early 1970s. Although the majority of the material pertains to the period of AWPPW union leadership, there is a small amount of material that pertains to the Everett Kraft mill employees’ previous union leadership, the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers. The Everett Kraft Mill Local #10 records also include materials relating to the numerous strikes by Washington State Weyerhaeuser employees throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

The first series, containing primarily meeting minutes and the constitutions, reveals not only the transition of union leadership, but also the inner workings of this mill's union. The Kraft Mill Standing Committee meeting minutes document the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers leadership, while the constitutions and labor agreements span twenty five years and both unions providing a broader picture of this mill and its workers.

However, it is the second series, newsletters, that truly illustrates the dynamic of industrial union life, representing union interests on the local level with their own newsletter, The Digester. These records also document activities on the regional level with the AWPPW's newsletter, The Rebel as well as the employer's perspective with Weyerhaeuser's newsletter, The Echo.

The third series contains the least amount of material and pertains to strike material including employee memorandums from Weyerhaeuser, and special editions of The Digester. The lack of material pertaining to the strikes in the 1960s and 1970s can be supplemented by information within the newsletters.

The Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, Everett Kraft Mill Local #10 records are arranged into 3 series.

Series I: Administrative, 1946-1973 Series II: Newsletters, 1964-1989 Series III: Strike Information, 1964-1971

The collection is open to the public.

Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, Everett Kraft Mill Local #10 records, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA 98225-9123.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, Everett Kraft Mill Local #10 Weyerhaeuser Company--Washington (State)--Everett--History--Sources. International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers--Washington (State)--Everett--History--Sources. Everett (Wash.) -- Labor union locals -- History -- Sources. Collective labor agreement -- Paper industry workers -- Washington (State) -- Everett -- History -- Sources. Labor unions -- Strike benefits -- Washington (State) -- Everett -- History -- Sources. Industrial relations -- Washington (State) -- Everett -- History -- Sources. Paper industry workers -- Washington (State) -- Everett -- History -- Sources. Paper industry workers -- Labor unions -- Washington (State) -- Everett -- History -- Sources. Paper industry workers -- Labor disputes -- Washington (State) -- Everett -- History -- Sources. Pulp mills -- Strikes and lockouts -- Washington (State) -- Everett -- History -- Sources. Wood-pulp industry -- Washington (State) -- Everett -- History -- Sources. Newsletters -- Washington (State) -- Everett -- Sources. labor history labor unions Washington (State)

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Series I Administrative 1946-1973 1/1 Financial 1965-1973 1/2 Health Insurance 1966-1971 1/3 Memos and Correspondence 1966-1973 Meeting Minutes 1953-1971 1/4 Kraft Mill Standing Committee Meeting Minutes (Part 1) 1953-1957 1/5 Kraft Mill Standing Committee Meeting Minutes (Part 2) 1953-1957 1/6 Kraft Mill Standing Committee Meeting Minutes (Part 1) 1957-1960 1/7 Kraft Mill Standing Committee Meeting Minutes (Part 2) 1957-1960 1/8 Kraft Mill Standing Committee Meeting Minutes 1961-1964 1/9 Minutes of the pre-Wage Conference of the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite & Paper Mill Workers and the United Papermakers & Paperworkers 1964 April 15 1/10 Washington – Alaska Joint Council of the AWPPW 1971 September Constitutions and Uniform Labor Agreements 1946-1971 1/11 Constitutions and Uniform Labor Agreements 1946-1971 1/12 Constitutions and Uniform Labor Agreements 1946-1971 1/13 Constitution and By-Laws of the Northern Washington and Alaska Area Council of the AWPPW 1968 Series II Newsletters 1964-1989 The Rebel 1964-1972 1/14 The Rebel 1964-1965 1/15 The Rebel 1966 1/16 The Rebel 1967 1/17 The Rebel 1968 1/18 The Rebel 1969 1/19 The Rebel 1970-1973, 1989 1/20 Weyerhaeuser The Echo Newsletter June 1965-December 1966 1/21 Everett Local #10 The Digester Newsletter 1965-1973 Series III Strike Information 1964-1971 1/22 Weyerhaeuser Strike 1964 1/23 Weyerhaeuser Strike 1969 1/24 Weyerhaeuser Strike 1971 1/25 Jurisdictional Dispute AWPPW & AFL-CIO 1967