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Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Local 15-A (Charleston, S.C.) records

 Collection
Identifier: L1974-31

Scope and Content of the Records

The Records, 1945-1973, of Local 15-A (Charleston, S.C.), Retail, Wholesale and Department store Union (RWDSU) consist of financial documents, general correspondence, and files describing relations with eleven companies in the Charleston area, chiefly the American Tobacco Company. This latter group contains correspondence; NRLB and American Arbitration Association case documents; and negotiation proposals and corroborating materials. Major topics are political education and action; negotiations for union recognition and contracts; and grievance settlements in cases provoked by automation and the resulting transfers and lay-offs, work speed-ups, and changes in piece work and hourly wage rates. The collection includes a series of Daily Worker articles, 1951-1952, about District 65 (New York) of the Distributive, Processing, & Office Workers of America. Prominent correspondents are RWDSU Regional Director Irving Lebold and International Representative Larry Larsen.

Dates

  • Creation: 1945-1973

Creator

Restrictions on Access

Collection is open for research use.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Georgia State University is the owner of the physical collection and makes reproductions available for research, subject to the copyright law of the United States and item condition. Georgia State University may or may not own the rights to materials in the collection. It is the researcher's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and obtain permission from the copyright holder before publication, reproduction, or display of the materials beyond what is reasonable under copyright law. Researchers may quote selections from the collection under the fair use provision of copyright law.

Historical Note

Local 15 was chartered on September 1, 1944 as a local of the Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union of America (FTA). Circa 1950 it affiliated with the Distributive, Processing and Office Workers of America (DPOWA) as Local 15, FTA Division. Its affiliation changed again in 1954 when it became Local 15-A of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU).

Extent

2.5 Linear Feet (in 7 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract:

Chartered on September 1, 1944 as a local of the Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union of America, its affiliation changed in 1954 when it became Local 15-A of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The collection, 1945-1973, consists of financial documents, general correspondence, and files describing relations with eleven companies in the Charleston, S.C. area, chiefly the American Tobacco Company.

Arrangement Note

The records are arranged into fourteen series:

Series I: Correspondence, 1951-1972, Series II: Financial Documents, 1947-1972, Series III: Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, 1962-1973, Series IV: Claussen Baking Company, 1955-1969, Series V: Coburg Dairy, Inc., 1955, Series VI: Colonial Stores, Inc., 1960-1964, Series VII: Hopkins Transfer & Storage Company, 1969, Series VIII: Medical College of South Carolina, 1968, Series IX: Sealtest Foods, Inc., 1960, Series X: Stein, Hall Southern, Inc., 1965-1968, Series XI: J.S. Weeks & Co., 1956, Series XII: South Carolina Labor Council, 1962-1966, Series XIII: DPOWA District 65, 1951-1952, Series XIV: Tobacco Worker' Federal Credit Union, 1958

Acquisition Information

Donated by Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, Local 15-A (Charleston, S.C.), courtesy of Isiah Bennett, June 3, 1974.

Online Availability

The photographs in this collection may have been digitized and are available online at Georgia State University Library Digital Collections.

Related Archival Materials

Related Materials in This Repository

  1. Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Local 315 (Atlanta, Ga.) records, 1947-1969 (L1972-58)
  2. Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Southeastern Region records, 1940-1968 (L1974-18)

Separated Materials

During processing, materials were separated to other Southern Labor Archives Printed Collections. For pamphlets, see the Southern Labor Archives Pamphlet Collection finding aid (note that this collection has been weeded over time). For periodicals, see the Southern Labor Archives periodicals collection finding aid or catalog. For photographs, see the Southern Labor Archives Photographs Collection finding aid. For contracts, see the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union contracts collection finding aid. For proceedings and constitutions, consult archivist.

Separated to Southern Labor Archives Contracts and Agreements Collection

  1. RWDSU (includes DPOWA), Local 15-A -- American Tobacco Co., 1952, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1965
  2. RWDSU (includes DPOWA), Local 15-A -- Stein, Hall Southern, Inc., 1965, 1968, 1972
  3. RWDSU (includes DPOWA), Local 15-A -- Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co., 1963, 1967, 1972
  4. RWDSU (includes DPOWA), Local 15-A -- Claussen Company, 1959, 1962, 1964, 1969, 1972
  5. RWDSU (includes DPOWA), Local 15-A -- Slater System Maryland, Inc., 1960
  6. RWDSU (includes DPOWA), Local 441 (Birmingham, Alabama) -- Interstate Bakeries Corporation, 1958
  7. RWDSU (includes DPOWA), Local 745 (Birmingham, Alabama) -- Consolidated Dairies, Inc., 1957
  8. RWDSU (includes DPOWA), Local 201 (Birmingham, Alabama) -- Barber Pure Milk Company, 1961
  9. RWDSU (includes DPOWA), Local 105 (Birmingham, Alabama) -- Barber Pure Milk Company, 1960
  10. RWDSU (includes DPOWA), Local 103 (Tupelo, Miss.) -- Barber Pure Milk Company, 1961
  11. RWDSU (includes DPOWA), Local 28 (Charlotte, N.C.) -- American Bakeries Co., 1957
  12. RWDSU (includes DPOWA), Local 503 (Charlotte, N.C.) -- American Bakeries Co. (Rocky Mount, N.C.), 1957, 1958
  13. RWDSU (includes DPOWA), Local 557 (Knoxville, Tenn.) -- Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co., 1960
  14. RWDSU (includes DPOWA), Local 1005 (Florence, S.C.) -- Southern Dairies, 1960
  15. RWDSU, AFL-CIO -- Long Meadows Farms Cooperative, Inc., 1958
  16. RWDSU, AFL-CIO -- Health and Welfare Fund, 1962 Amalgamated Tobacco, Food & Allied Workers, Local 1711 (Philadelphia, Pa.), 1957
  17. Tobacco Workers International Union, Local 182, 183, 191, 192, 204, 216, 1956
  18. Tobacco Workers International Union, Local 316 (Owensboro, Ky.), 1957
  19. Oil Workers International Union, Local 645 (Charleston, S.C.), 1953
  20. Candy and Confectionery Union, Local 50 (Long Island City, N.Y.), 1964
  21. Cigar Makers' International Union (Tampa, Fla.) 1958 American Tobacco Company and Chase Manhattan Bank (New York, N.Y.) Retirement Plan Trust Agreement, 1960

Separated to Southern Labor Archives Constitutions Collection

  1. RWDSU Local 15-A, 1970

Separated to Southern Labor Archives Pamphlet Collection

  1. 3 pamphlets concerning South Carolina Labor Council, the South Carolina Unemployment Compensation Law, and a report on Orangeburg, S.C., by the Southern Regional Council, 1955, 1962, 1968

Separated to Southern Labor Archives Periodicals Collection

  1. RWDSU, Drug and Hospital Local 1199, 1199 Drug and Hospital News, Vol. 4, No. 6, June 1969
  2. Tobacco Workers' International Union, Local 316 (Owensboro, Ky.) Tobacco Leaf, Vol. 10, No. 6, November 1965

Separated to Southern Labor Archives Proceedings Collection

  1. South Carolina Industrial Union, Fourth Annual Convention, August 1956

Separated to Southern Labor Archives Photographs Collection

  1. 47 photographic prints in 2 folders

Processing Information

Unknown original processing.

Related Names

Subject

Subjects

Record Groups

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Local 15-A (Charleston, South Carolina):
Subtitle
A Guide to Its Records at Georgia State University Library
Status
Completed
Author
Georgia State University Library
Date
June 2001
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Repository

https://library.gsu.edu/special-collections/
Contact:
100 Decatur St., S.E.
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
404-413-2880
404-413-2881 (Fax)

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