Inventory of the Communications Workers of America Local 4303 Records, 1935-1972
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Title: |
Communications Workers of America Local 4303 Records, 1935-1972 |
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Repository: |
Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, The University of Akron
Phone: 330-972-7670
http://www.uakron.edu/libraries/archives
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Creator: |
Communications Workers of America Local 4303 |
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Dates: |
1935-1972 |
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Quantity: |
2.0 cubic feet (6 document cases) |
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Abstract: |
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 4303 was a Canton, Ohio area union with membership primarily from the telephone
industry. It was chartered in 1950 as successor to Local 4 of the Ohio Federation of Telephone Workers (OFTW). This collection
will be useful to researchers who have an interest in the various types of employee grievances, the methods the unions used
to resolve those grievances, and the international union's efforts to coordinate industry-wide bargaining.
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Identification: |
99/17 |
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Location: |
B06-08-03-04 |
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Language: |
The records are in English |
History of Biography or History
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 4303 was a Canton, Ohio area union with membership primarily from the telephone
industry. It was chartered in 1950 as successor to Local 4 of the Ohio Federation of Telephone Workers (OFTW). Local 4 was
much like a company union, representing the blue collar employees of the Ohio Bell Telephone Company. It was also affiliated
with the National Federation of Telephone Workers.
The CWA was formed in 1947 to remedy the major problems of the loosely confederated National Federation of Telephone Workers,
which had been created in 1939 and consisted of locally autonomous unions from throughout the country. However, the lack of
unity and centralization resulted in a weak and ineffective body. The reorganization that formed the CWA created a strong
national union which could provide a more united bargaining agent to represent the membership. In 1950 the CWA lost its status
as an independent union by becoming affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
Information for this historical sketch was taken from material in the collection and from Gary M. Fink, ed., Labor Unions,
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Institutions (Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1977).
Scope and Content
The records of the Communications Workers of America Local 4303 date from 1935-1972. They contain information relating to
the organization of the union, employee grievances, and the bargaining activities of both the local and the international
unions. The collection will be useful to researchers who have an interest in the various types of employee grievances, the
methods the unions used to resolve those grievances, and the international union's efforts to coordinate industry-wide bargaining.
Statement of Arrangement
Series I: Minutes, 1948-1972, consists of three boxes of chronologically arranged meeting minutes for the period 1948 to 1972.
Contained within the first several years of this series are a few of the meeting minutes of joint conferences between representatives
of the union and the Ohio Bell Telephone Company for the purpose of resolving employee grievances. Series II: Correspondence,
1945-1972, contains chronologically arranged union correspondence. These items are primarily between the local, the regional
office in Cleveland, and the international office in Washington, D.C. The subjects of these communications seem to be heavily
oriented toward bargaining activities and the international union's efforts to establish uniform demands. Series III: Agreements
and Contracts, 1948-1957 includes agreements and contracts between the union and the Ohio Bell Telephone Company. Although
they span the years 1948 to 1957, the three folders apparently contain only a sampling and do not represent a complete record
of the agreements and contracts for that period. Series IV: Bargaining Information and Reports, 1948-1959 consists primarily
of reports from the international office to the local unions. These reports appear to have been semi-regular communications
informing local union officials of the status of bargaining negotiations in progress throughout the country. Series V: Subject
Files, 1935-1960 contains significant types of records including union rosters and dues records from 1935 to 1938, financial
records dated from 1953 to 1959, a CWA union operating manual, departmental rosters of Ohio Bell employees, and a job description
manual for the Ohio Bell Telephone Company.
Series I: Minutes, 1948-1972
Series II: Correspondence, 1945-1972
Series III: Agreements and Contracts, 1948-1957
Series IV: Bargaining Information and Reports, 1948-1959
Series V: Subject Files, 1935-1960
Restrictions on Use
Copyright restrictions may apply. Permission to reproduce or publish materials in this collection must be secured in writing
from Archival Services, University Libraries, The University of Akron.
Restrictions on Access
No restrictions on access; except not available through interlibrary loan. Copyright restrictions may apply. Permission to
reproduce or publish materials in this collection must be secured in writing from Archival Services, University Libraries,
The University of Akron.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects:
Labor Unions -- Ohio -- Canton
Telephone Companies -- Employees -- Labor unions
Organizations/Corporations:
Communications Workers of America. Local 4303 (Canton, Ohio)
Ohio Bell Telephone Company
Ohio Federation of Telephone Workers. Local 4 (Canton, Ohio)
Preferred Citation
[Identification of Item], Communications Workers of America Local 4303 Records, Archival Services, University Libraries, The
University of Akron, Akron, Ohio.
Processing Information
Archival Services staff; re-housed by student assistant Chelsi King, 2013; finding aid updated by John Ball, 2014
Detailed Description of The Collection
SERIES I: MINUTES, 1948-1972
BOX 1 / Folder 1-12
Meeting Minutes, January 1948 -December 1956
BOX 2 / Folder 1-13
Meeting Minutes, January 1957 - December 1963
BOX 3 / Folder 1-12
Meeting Minutes, January 1964 - February 1972
SERIES II: CORRESPONDENCE, 1945-1972
BOX 4 / Folder 1-12
Correspondence, June 1945
SERIES III: AGREEMENTS AND CONTRACTS, 1948-1957
BOX 4 / Folder 13
Agreements, 1948-1954
BOX 4 / Folder 14
Revised Articles of Agreement and Contracts, 1950-1957
BOX 4 / Folder 15
Contracts, 1950-1954
SERIES IV: BARGAINING INFORMATION AND REPORTS, 1948-1959
BOX 5 / Folder 1
OFTW Bargaining Committee Reports, 1947-1949
BOX 5 / Folder 2
Ohio Bell Concessions to Employees, 1950
BOX 5 / Folder 3-8
Bargaining Reports, 1951-1959
SERIES V: SUBJECT FILES, 1935-1960
BOX 5 / Folder 9-10
Union Rosters and Due Records, 1935-1938
BOX 5 / Folder 11
Financial Records, 1948-1959
BOX 5 / Folder 12
CWA Operating Manual, 1960
BOX 5 / Folder 13
Ohio Bell Departmental Rosters, 1965-1972
BOX 6 / Folder 1-2
Ohio Bell Job Description Manual, 1952
BOX 6 / Folder 3
Roster of Presidents of Ohio Locals, undated
BOX 6 / Folder 4
Miscellaneous Items, 1947-1955
BOX 6 / Folder 5
OFTW Newsletter , 1948-1949
BOX 6 / Folder 6
The CWA News, 1952-1957
BOX 6 / Folder 7
The Telephone Flash Newsletter , 1957
BOX 6 / Folder 8
CWA Weekly Newsletter, February 1954 - February 1959
BOX 6 / Folder 9
Daily Digest , July 12, 1955
BOX 6 / Folder 10
Daily Labor Report, July 12, 1955
BOX 6 / Folder 11
Telecommunications Weekly Summary , July 11, 1955
BOX 6 / Folder 12
Ohio Bell Bulletin , 1954-1956
BOX 6 / Folder 13
Ohio Bell News in Brief , August 1956 - December 1957
BOX 6 / Folder 14
The Ohio Federation of Telephone Workers News Bulletin, September 1947 - September 1948
BOX 6 / Folder 15
News Releases, June 1951 - October 1957
BOX 6 / Folder 16
Pamphlets, 1955