Archives West Finding Aid

Scope and Content: The records of Local 3-101 date from the beginnings of the International Woodworkers of America (IWA) and document the early history of the Everett local and other locals in Western Washington which merged with 3-101. They document also the activities of the regional IWA organization which was the Northern Washington District Council No. 2 from 1937 until amalgamation with District 3 in 1953 produced the Western Washington District Council No. 23, followed by the Western States Regional Council in 1959. This accession also provides documentation of industrial unionism in Snohomish County from the beginnings of the CIO.

The bulk of the papers date from the 1940s and 1950s, a time when unions, union leaders, and the CIO especially, were under attack. A common concern throughout the records is anti-labor legislation such as the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, and legislation which was used against organized labor, such as the Smith Act and McCarran Act. The second "Red Scare" of this period not only led to attacks on the union from outside, but created or exacerbated disputes and divisions within both the IWA and CIO. The Woodworkers' history of local independence and rank and file control contributed to problems with their leadership and disputes between districts, hindering efforts toward industry-wide negotiations. Not until 1943 were negotiations industry-wide in both the fir and pine regions.

RECORDS SUBGROUP I: INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 3-101 RECORDS. The bulk of correspondence in SERIES II: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE is from 1948-1954 although there is little in 1952. Additional correspondence scattered throughout other series, such as MINUTES, NEGOTIATIONS, and CASE FILES, (SERIES III, IV, XII) of the Everett local are very incomplete; most of these remain in the custody of Local 3-101. There are no minutes from the Eclipse branch after 1945, none from the Weyerhaeuser mills, except the shop committees, and only fragments from the Granite Falls and Sultan branches. Minutes of the District Council Executive Board are nearly complete from 1949 to 1957.

SERIES III: MINUTES , 1944-1957, contains minutes from the IWA Eclipse Mill, Granite Falls, and Sultan branches. It also includes meeting minutes of the executive councils for Northern Washington Districts 2, 3, and 23.

SERIES IV: NEGOTIATIONS, 1940-1968, contains correspondence, minutes, proceedings chronologically and represent largely regional negotiations that included the Everett local. They have been separated into "General" and "IWA Western Washington Health and Welfare Committee and Employers' Health and Welfare Committee" subseries.

The only strike that is well documented in SERIES VI: STRIKES, 1954 is the 1954 12 week, joint IWA - Lumber and Sawmill Workers (AFL) strike which shut down all major operations through the Douglas fir region. The records document the Everett local's part in the strike.

SERIES VII: RESOLUTIONS,circa 1941-1955, contain resolutions from Local 101, the IWA District Council and the Snohomish Industrial Union Council on a variety of local and national issues.

Many partial financial records have been retained, primarily to serve as membership lists. They primarily document the activity of Local 2-101 from 1941-1976 in SERIES X: FINANCIAL RECORDS.

SERIES XIII: REPORTS includes much material which was generated by the District Council. The economic reports statistically describe the state of the lumber industry.

SERIES XX: SUBJECT SERIES - Taft-Hartley, 1947- circa 1957, consists of CIO memos explaining the new law and also documents Local 101's compliance with Taft-Hartley requirements in 1949-1951.

The Karly Larsen Defense Committee, 1953, was a "Committee of IWA Neighbors and Friends of Karly Larsen," the 1st Vice President of Western Washington District No.23 of the IWA. Larsen was being tried under the Smith Act, an alien registration act, and faced deportation.

SERIES XXVIII: NELSON (PETE) COMMITTEE: 1949-1951, concerns the attempted deportation by the Immigration Service of the Business Agent of Local 2-101, Pete Nelson. Additional papers relating to these deportation cases are in RECORDS SUBGROUP 7: SNOHOMISH COUNTY INDUSTRIAL UNION COUNCIL.

The records subgroups of IWA Locals 23-93, 23-46, 3-199, 23-75, 2-54 contain records of small locals which merged with Local 101 in the 1950's. RECORDS SUBGROUP 2; IWA Local 29-93 (Sultan), 1935-1957, contains the earliest records in the accession. Its SERIES III: MINUTES, begins with the formation of the union as Local 2614 of Sawmill and Timber Workers (AFL). It subsequently became IWA Local 23-93 in September 1937 and merged with 23-101 in 1957. The Sultan local included sub-locals in Skykomish, Granite Falls, Monroe, and Granite. 1957-1958 minutes from the Sultan Branch of 23-101 are filed in the main body of the accession. Locals 23-46 and 3-199 of Bellingham are not the same union. Their records are represented in RECORDS SUBGROUP 3 and RECORDS SUBGROUP 4 respectivly. 23-46 merged with 23-75 of Sedro-Woolley on October 1, 1955 and 23-75 merged with 3-101 on October 18, 1959. Local 3-199 of Bellingham, 1955-1971, was a boom men and rafter's union. Local 2-54 of Anacortes also merged with 3-101 in 1959. The records of some of these unions are represented in this collection. Specifically, RECORDS SUBGROUP 4: WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA, INTERNATIONAL. LOCAL 3-199 (Bellingham), RECORDS SUBGROUP 5 : WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA, INTERNATIONAL. LOCAL 23-75 (Sedro Woolley), RECORDS SUBGROUP 6 : WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA, INTERNATIONAL. LOCAL 2-54 (Anacortes)

RECORDS SUBGROUP 7: SNOHOMISH COUNTY INDUSTRIAL UNION COUNCIL.(CIO), 1936-circa 1964, documents the political activities of that organization and its differences with the national CIO leadership. Its political activities included lobbying against anti-labor legislation in the state, support for Harry Bridges and the IWA leaders who were threatened with deportation. SERIES II: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE in this subgroup includes resolutions from the CIO Executive Board on a variety of issues, including the purging of several left wing unions from the CIO.

RECORDS SUBGROUP 8: FISHERMEN AND ALLIED WORKERS OF AMERICA, INTERNATIONAL. CANNERY WORKERS. LOCAL 18 (EVERETT), 1937-1942, is a sub-subgroup of the SIUC because the Cannery Workers, Local 18 was a member of that organization. The Cannery Workers organized as Local 18257 of the AFL on October 11, 1937, but switched affiliation and on November 22, 1937 received a CIO charter as Local 170. On May 23, 1938 the Cannery Workers voted to change affiliation again to the Fishermen and on August 1 received a charter as Cannery Workers, Local 18 of the United Fishermen Union of the Pacific (CIO). By January 1941 the Everett Cannery Workers Local 18 was affiliated with the International Fishermen and Allied Workers of America (CIO).

Scope and Content: Organizational features, minutes, wage scales, job descriptions, negotiations, agreements, grievances, and publications. A large portion of this accession deals with the activities of the Weyerhauster Standing Committee.