International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Aeronautical Industrial District Lodge 91 Records

Finding aid prepared by Daria D'Arienzo

Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center
405 Babbidge Road, Unit 1205
Storrs, Connecticut 06269-1205

© 2005 University of Connecticut


Overview of the Collection
Repository:	Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center.
Creator:	International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, District 91 (Hartford, Conn.).
Title:	International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Aeronautical Industrial District Lodge 91 Records.
Dates:	undated, 1937-1983
Quantity:	95 linear feet
Identification:	MSS19840017
Language:	English.
Abstract:	District Lodge 91 received its charter in May 1953. At that time the representative locals consisted of Hartford Aircraft Lodge 743, chartered in 1941, representing workers at Hamilton Standard (located in East Hartford until 1952 when it moved to Windsor Locks); Industrial aircraft Lodge 1746, chartered in February, 1945, representing workers at Pratt and Whitney, East Hartford; and Industrial Aircraft Lodge 1746A, chartered in October, 1951, representing Pratt and Whitney workers in Southington. In March 1959 Canal Lodge 700, in Middletown, was chartered and added to District 91 representation. Prior to 1953, Pratt and Whitney workers' lodges were part of IAM District 26. As of 1984, District 91 included Lodge 700, Lodge 707 (from North Haven), Lodge 743, Lodge 1746, and Lodge 1746A.

History

District Lodge 91 received its charter in May 1953. At that time the representative locals consisted of Hartford Aircraft Lodge 743, chartered in 1941, representing workers at Hamilton Standard (located in East Hartford until 1952 when it moved to Windsor Locks); Industrial Aircraft Lodge 1746, chartered in February 1945, representing workers at Pratt and Whitney, East Hartford; and Industrial Aircraft Lodge 1746A, chartered in October 1951, representing Pratt and Whitney workers in Southington. In March 1959, Canal Lodge 700, in Middletown, was chartered and added to District 91 representation. Prior to 1953, Pratt and Whitney workers' lodges were part of IAM District 26. As of 1984, District 91 included Lodge 700, Lodge 707 (from North Haven), Lodge 743, Lodge 1746, and Lodge 1746A.

For a more detailed chronology of District 91's history see Michael S. Fitzgerald's unpublished paper “District 91” (in collection files).

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Scope and Content

The collection contains the working administrative and legal files of the union. Some financial documents are also included. The most significant event documented in this collection is the nine week strike from July to August 1960, involving Lodges 1746 and 743. The unfair labor practice and damage suits and counter suits filed after this strike continued throughout the 1960s.

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Arrangement

Series I: Administrative records(1947-1982) is further divided into eight subseries: Correspondence and Subject Files (1947-1966) and Correspondence and Subject Files (1967-1982) are comprised of working papers generated and received by the President and the administrative officers of District 91. These files are useful in getting a broad overview of the range of activities in which the District was active. Materials of interest include correspondence form Grand Lodge, bylaws of District 91, minutes of district executive board meetings, correspondence with local lodges, National Labor Relations Board material, correspondence with the union's legal counsels and 1960 strike and settlement material. Materials in both subseries are arranged alphabetically by name, title or subject. Strike Material (c. 1960-1963) contains arbitration hearing transcripts, correspondence, and votes about the 1960 strike settlement. When used in conjunction with the strike-related material in the two Correspondence and Subject Files subseries and the legal series, these materials will provide comprehensive coverage of the 1960 strike and subsequent settlements. Material in this subseries is arranged alphabetically by type. Legal Case Files (c. 1966-1972) contains materials collected by the District 91 administrative office relating to the various cases that the District was involved in. Most of the material was sent to the District from the legal counsels and duplicated in several legal subseries. Individual cases are in separate section; the court hearing the case arranges other cases. Boron Cases (1969-1976) contains materials dealing with Lodge 743 activities at the Boron Filament Plant, Hamilton Standard Division of United Aircraft Corporation. Material includes contract negotiations and agreements, administrative and correspondence files, and legal case files. The 1970 contract negotiation material is of particular interest. Materials are arranged alphabetically by type. Preference for Bargaining Survey (1974) contains detail summary analysis of the responses to the 1974 survey of union members on preferred bargaining unit. The material is arranged by lodge. Lou Kiefer Files (c. 1960-1982) contains incoming and outgoing correspondence, reports and papers collected by G. Lou Kiefer in his role as Public Relations Officer and Editor of the New Union News for District 91. Materials are divided into two sections, correspondence and administrative files; folders are arranged alphabetically within each section. Dave Cooper Files (1975-1980) contains administrative materials collected by Dave Cooper in his role as business representative for District 91. Materials include correspondence, employee benefit information, grievance materials, arbitration information, and some conference material. Files are arranged alphabetically by name, title, or type.

Series II: Agreements and Negotiations (c. 1950-1983) contains negotiations transcripts and working papers for contracts for District 91 local lodges and final official printed contracts. The material is arranged by type and then by lodge.

Series III: Financial Records (c. 1955-1973) includes summary correspondence, financial reports, and the Treasurer's books and ledgers. The material, while not complete, represents the kinds of financial papers maintained at the District office. Material is arranged by type.

Series IV: Arbitrations (c. 1968-1977) RESTRICTEDincludes transcripts and support documents collected by district representatives serving local lodges. Arbitrations are arranged by local lodge number and then alphabetically. This series contains only a small sample of arbitration materials.

Series V: Grievances (c. 1965-1980) RESTRICTED contains grievance forms, support documentation, and notes from grievance step meetings. Most material is dated from 1975 to 1980. A District 91 representative serving the locals probably collected these materials. Materials are arranged by year then by step.

Series VI: Civil Case 9084- 9085: United State Superior Court, District of Connecticut (c. 1944-1969) contains records of the damages suit filed by the union after the 1960 strike. These materials were deposited by the legal counsel at the District office, and contain a fairly complete record of this court case. Materials in this series are arranged by type, in nine subseries: Pleading and Indexes (1962-1967, arranged chronologically); Briefs and Memoranda (undated, 1962-1969, arranged chronologically); Hearings (1962-1966); Interrogatories (1962-1963); Depositions (1962-1968, arranged alphabetically by name); Transcripts (1967, arranged chronologically); Exhibits (undated, organized in two sections, Plaintiff's exhibits and Defendant's exhibits, which are both arranged by number); Attorney's Working Papers (1944-1968, arranged in small units, as used by the lawyer); and Back Pay Data (1967, arranged alphabetically by person).

Used in conjunction with NLRB case 1-CA-3355 and Hartford Superior Court Case 133884-133885 papers, this material documents the unfair labor practice and damages suits filed after the 1960 strike.

Series VII: Case No. 1- CA- 3355, National Labor Relations Board (undated, 1949-1969) contains materials documenting the consolidated unfair labor practice suits filed by the union against United Aircraft Corporation after the 1960 strike. The legal counsel with District 91 deposited these materials after the final NLRB court decisions.

The material is arranged by type in four subseries: Pleading and Indexes (n.d, 1963, arranged by type); Briefs and Memoranda (undated, 1963-1969, arranged chronologically); Official Report Proceedings (1964-1967, arranged chronologically and by page number); Exhibits (undated, organized in five sections: charging Party, General Counsel, Respondents, Trial Examiner, and Oversize Exhibits—each section is arranged by number); and Attorney's Working Papers (undated, 1949-1969, arranged in small units as used by lawyers).

Used in conjunction with District Court Case 9084- 9085 and Hartford Superior Court Case 133884- 133885 papers, these materials document the long history of the 1950 strike- related suits.

Series VIII: Case no. 133884-133885, Hartford Superior Court (c. 1963-1969) contains records of the suit United Aircraft Corporation filed against the IAMAW Grand Lodge to declare the 1960 strike illegal and to secure financial “damages” as a result of violence by union members during the 1960 strike. The suits were consolidated; Case No. 133884 was filed on Behalf of Pratt and Whitney, and Case No. 133885 was filed of behalf of Hamilton Standard. These materials were deposited by the union's legal counsel at the district office and contain a reasonably complete record of the court case. Materials in this series are arranged by type in seven subseries: Pleadings (1963-1969, arranged chronologically); Briefs and Memoranda (1963-1969, arranged chronologically); Depositions and Witness Testimony (undated, 1963-1968, arranged alphabetically by name); Transcripts (1964-1968, arranged chronologically); Exhibits (undated, 1963-1968, organized in two sections, Defendant's exhibits arranged numerically, and Plaintiff's exhibits, arranged alphabetically); Interrogatory Support Data (undated, arranged by interrogatory numbers); and Attorney's Working Papers (1960-1968, arranged alphabetically by subject).

Used in conjunction with NLRB case 1- CA- 3355 and District Court case 9084- 9085, these papers document the unfair labor practices and damage suits filed as a result of the 1960 strike.

Series IX: Other Legal Cases (c. 1960-1969) contains legal papers and attorney's working papers of cases involving District 91 and its local lodges. Materials in this series are organized in seven subseries: United States Supreme Court (1964, arranged by case number), United States District Court, District of Connecticut (1960-1967, arranged by civil number); United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit (1963-1964, arranged by case number); United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia (1966-1968, arranged by case number); Hartford Superior Court (1960, arranged by case number); National Labor Relations Board (1960-1969, arranged by case number); and Attorney's Working Papers (undated, 1961-1964, arranged in small units as used by the layer). The most significant case in this material is U.S. District Court for Connecticut Civil Case No. 11, 466 Hoban (of the NLRB) vs. United Aircraft Corporation, C. 1965- 1966. In this case, UAC, questioned the union's role as representative bargaining unit during 1965 contract negotiations because 1960 strike litigations were not yet settled.

Series X: Conference Materials (c. 1960-1979) contains correspondence, notes, proceeding, publications, and printed material collected by District 91 officers and members at conferences and training seminars they attended. The series is organized in three subseries. General Files (undated, 1962-1979) contains miscellaneous information not identified with specific conferences, and is arranged chronologically. IAMAW Aerospace Conference (1966-1977) includes information from the 13th - 18th and 25th Conferences. Connecticut State Council of Machinists (1970-1972) subseries contains material from the council's training seminar and the semi-annual conference, both arranged chronologically. The final subseries, Other Conferences (1967-1971), contains materials collected at various Connecticut, New England and national conferences, arranged alphabetically by the organization's name.

Series XI: Printed Material (1937-1983) is organized in three sub-series: Newsclippings (1965-1982), Flyers (undated, 1953-1982), and Publications (1937-1982). Newsclippings contains scrapbook and loose newsclippings, which document labor and political activities, or other items of interest to labor. The 1960 scrapbooks are valuable for documenting the 1960 machinists strike. The newsclippings are arranged chronologically. Flyers contain copies of most flyers produced by Distrcit91 for all local lodges, arranged chronologically. This subseries also contains flyers produced by individual local lodges, arranged by plant. Publications contains contracts, some convention material, IAM printed material, IAMAW Grand Lodge publications and newsletters (including “The Machinist”), and District 91 Newsletters. This material is arranged alphabetically by originating body and/or title.

Series XII: Photographs and Memorabilia (undated, 1960-1982) is organized in two subseries, Photographs (undated, 1960-1982) and Memorabilia (undated, 1968-1974). Photographs contains prints and negatives organized by general groupings including union leaders, individuals, group photos, strikes and meetings. Memorabilia contains buttons, badges, and artifacts, arranged by type.

Series XIII: Microfilm and Tape Recordings (undated, 1953-1967) is divided into the two media types and contains information pertaining to the lawsuits, union activities and events.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Access to arbitration, grievance and legal case materials is restricted.

Restrictions on Use

Permission to publish from these Papers must be obtained in writing from both the University of Connecticut Libraries and the owner(s) of the copyright.

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Related Material

Archives & Special Collections has a substantial collection of materials pertaining to Connecticut labor. For detailed information on these collections please contact the curator or ask at the reference desk.

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Index Terms

This record series is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.

Subjects:

Actions and defenses--Connecticut.

Aerospace industries--Connecticut.

Aerospace industries—Employees--Labor unions--Connecticut.

Aircraft industry workers--Connecticut.

Aircraft industry--Connecticut.

Aircraft industry—Employees--Labor unions--Connecticut.

Arbitration, Industrial--Connecticut.

Collective labor agreements--Aircraft industry.

Collective labor agreements--Connecticut.

Connecticut—Labor--Trade-unions.

Courts of last resort--United States.

Courts--Connecticut.

Courts--United States.

District courts--United States.

East Hartford (Conn.)--Business, industries, and trades--Aerospace.

East Hartford (Conn.)--Business, industries, and trades--Aircraft.

Hartford (Conn.)--Business, industries, and trades--Aircraft.

Hartford (Conn.)--Legal affairs.

Labor unions--Connecticut.

Machinists--Labor unions--Connecticut.

Middletown (Conn.)--Business, industries, and trades--Aircraft.

North Haven (Conn.)--Business, industries, and trades--Aircraft.

Southington (Conn.)--Business, industries, and trades--Aircraft.

Strikes and lockouts--Aircraft industry--Connecticut.

Unfair labor practices--Connecticut.

Document Types:

Administrative Records.

Agreements and Negotiations.

Arbitrations.

Audio cassettes.

Audio visual materials.

Civil Cases.

Correspondence.

Financial Records.

Grievances.

Photographs.

Press releases.

Publications.

Occupations:

Labor union.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Item description, #:#], International Association Of Machinists And Aerospace Workers, District 91 (Hartford, Conn.) Records. Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries.

Acquisition Information

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Aeronautical Industrial District Lodge 91 records were deposited in the Connecticut Labor Archives in February 1984 by Mel Tripp, Jr., President of District 91, and Charles A. Tracey, District Representative. Materials in the various legal series were given to the district by their legal counsel, Zeman and Daly, after the cases were complete.

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Detailed Description

Series I: Administrative Records, undated, 1947-1982

Subseries A: Correspondence and Files, undated, 1947-1966

1:1

Audits and financial statements, 1959-1966

1:2

Audits reports, 1955-1959

1:3

Bank statements, 1959-1960

1:4-5

Blue Cross, 1959-1962

1:6

Board of Mediation and Arbitration, 1947, 1953, 1956

1:7

Broad Brook plant, 1954-1955

1:8

Brunner, Gilbert (General Vice-President D-91), 1961-1966

1:9

Buckland plant, 1945-1960

1:10

Business agents salary breakdown, undated

1:11-12

Business agents election, 1954-1957

1:13

Business agents: statement of pension fund deduction, 1961-1963

1:14

Bylaws of District 91, 1959-1961

1:15

Cole, Gordon (Editor of The Machinist), 1962-1966

1:16-17

Coonley, Fred (General Vice- President D- 91), 1950-1958