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International Woodworkers of America Local 3-101 records, 1935-1983

Overview of the Collection

Creator
International Woodworkers of America. Local 3-101 (Everett, Wash.)
Title
International Woodworkers of America Local 3-101 records
Dates
1935-1983 (inclusive)
Quantity
18.48 cubic feet (27 boxes)
Collection Number
3120
Summary
Records of the union's Local 3-101, Everett, Washington and records of small locals which merged with 101 in the 1950s.
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

No restrictions on access.

Some material stored offsite; advance notice required for use.

Request at UW

Languages
English
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Other Descriptive Information

Forms part of the Labor Archives of Washington

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Historical Note

AFL-CIO labor union representing mill and timber workers.

The International Woodworkers of America was founded in 1937 and chartered by the Congress of Industrial Organizations the same year. Since 1935 the Sawmill and Timber Workers had been organized by the American Federation of Labor under the leadership of the Brotherhood of Carpenters. However, the woodworkers' increasing dislike of Carpenter leadership and AFL trade union organization led to the break in 1937. From 1940 Local 101 represented workers in the Everett Weyerhaeuser mills and Eclipse Lumber Company. Unions which merged with Local 101 were other members active in the Snohomish Industrial Union Council, local coordinating arm of the CIO. Local 18 of Cannery Workers' branch of Internatinal Fishermen and Allied Workers of America, was also a member of the SIUC. Other local unions that merged with it included branches from Anacortes, Bellingham, Sedro Woolley, and Sultan, Washington. When Districts 2 and 3 of the union merged in 1953, the Everett local's disignation changed from 2-101 to 23-101; in 1959 it became Local 3-101.

The IWA was in competition with the AFL unions for representation of woodworkers until the AFL-CIO merger in 1955. After the industry-wide shift to the IWA, the AFL locals made gains in Everett, but the big Weyerhaeuser mills had not signed a contract with either union until 1940. In that year during the AFL strike the IWA capitalized on increasing discontent with the Brotherhood of Carpenter's leadership to organize the Weyerhaeuser mills. On October 31, 1940 the IWA signed contracts covering those mills and, in effect, pulled far ahead of the Sawmill and Timber Workers in Everett. Besides the Weyerhaeuser Mills, Local 101 also represented the Eclipse Lumber Company and, after 1953, a new Kraft mill. Since its membership was mostly in the large mills, it had greater stability than other locals. Representing Weyerhaeuser employees enhanced its position since other companies followed Weyerhaeuser's example.

Local 101 was a member of the Snohomish County Industrial Union Council (CIO), which also included the Sultan IWA local and Everett locals of the ILWU, IBU, Cannery Workers and United Construction Workers. Certain issues are common to the Local 101 records and the SIUC subgroup, such as support for the formation of a third party in 1948, support for left wing labor leaders, and repeal of the Taft-Hartley law.

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Content Description

This collection documents the activities of the International Woodworker’s Association (IWA) Local 3-101 (Everett). Included are series detailing the Union’s Organization, General Correspondence, Minutes of its general and executive boards, Negotiations, Strikes, Elections, Financial Activities, Wage Scales, member Grievances, and a series of publications that detail the state of the lumber industry. Activities of IWA branches that were either part of local 3-101 or merged with it at some point are represented in several records subgroup and series within the collection. These are the records of Local 23-93 (Sultan), 23-46 (Bellingham), 3-199 (Bellingham), 23-75 (Sedro Woolley), 2-54 (Anacortes), the Snohomish County Industrial Union Council, Fishermen and Allied Workers of America, International Cannery Workers. Local 18 (Everett), the Publishers Forest Products Company (Anacortes), and the Weyerhauser Standing Committee.

The records of ACCESSION NO. 3120-001 date primarily from the 1940s and 1950s. A commonly articulated concern from this period was anti-labor legislation, especially the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, and the McCarran Act of 1950.

The records of ACCESSION NO. 3120-002 primarily date from to 1960s and 1970s. Included are wage scale books from 1944, 1950, and 1952. This accession also includes job descriptions and postings, which help to detail the nature and division of labor at IWA lumber mills.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Organized into 2 accessions.

  • Accession No. 3120-001, International Woodworkers of America Local 3-101 records, 1935-1979
  • Accession No. 3120-002, International Woodworkers of America Local 3-101 records, 1940-1983

Related Materials

See also International Woodworkers of America Records, Acc. Nos. 4000-001 and 4000-002 in Special Collections.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

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2010 (Last modified: 1/7/2022)

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