Labor Strikes in New York City
Hi Al,
I can't find any evidence of Local 1 archives at the Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at NYU, so I would definitely recommend contacting Local 1 directly. Members and elected leaders are often the best source of information on Local union history, especially relating to strikes. Their website is http://www.ualocal1.org
If they can't answer your question, try contacting Tamiment - there are many knowledgeable archivists and librarians on staff that may know something about the strike.
http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/tam/about.html
Good luck!
Aliqae
Labor Strikes in New York City
Hi--
Aliqae’s suggestion to contact Local 1 directly to find out about their last strike is excellent advice. Labor organizations are very often the best sources of information on their own histories.
If you are interested in finding additional information related to UA and strike data in general, a few sources are listed below.
Work Stoppages Program and Strike Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/wsp/). The Work Stoppages program at BLS provides monthly and annual data and analysis of major work stoppages involving 1,000 or more workers lasting one full shift or longer. The Strike Report is a summary of strike activity during the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey reference period. Note that a work stoppage would have to have involved a large number of workers to appear in the reports.
UA Journal, the official publication of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry, the parent of Local 1, is available in the Tamiment Library and in the New York Public Library. The journal would likely cover strikes by UA locals.
Printed Ephemera Collection on Trade Unions (PE 001). This archival collection in Tamiment consists of leaflets, flyers, pamphlets, and other printed documents, and contains several folders related to UA. Two folders are titled “United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry” and two folders contain UA constitutions. Additional UA-related folders contain materials related to Locals 2, 457, and 638. See the collection finding aid for details: http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/pe_tf.html.
A search across all of Tamiment’s archival findings aids on the term “United Association of Journeymen” at http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/?collectionId=tamwag turns up 8 collections that contain materials related to UA, including the PE 001 collection mentioned earlier. Click on “show occurrences” in the results list to see where your search term appears in the finding aid. If the collection looks promising, click on the full title. Note that some collections are stored offsite and 48 hours’ advance notice is required to obtain boxes.
Should you wish to visit the Tamiment Library, please take a look at the Research Visits / Library Services page on our website (http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/tam/usingtam.html) for information. The Top 10 Things to Know is especially worth a look. Please note that you must bring a photo ID to gain access to Tamiment and must register to use the library. You may bring a laptop to take notes and access our finding aids and other electronic resources. You may also bring a camera to take non-flash photos of library collections for personal reference use. This service is free, but you must fill out a photography application before taking photos.
Good luck with your research.
Donna