Georgia AFL-CIO convention (Savannah, Ga.) and J.R. Stephens boycott photographs, 1978

The Georgia AFL-CIO Journal of Labor photograph collection, 1974-1992 (bulk 1980-1992), consists of images created or obtained for the official Georgia State AFL-CIO newspaper. Folders are in their original order. The photographs and negatives document conventions, strikes and other job actions, political events and rallies, social occasions, and other events that reflect the organization and its work. Georgia State AFL-CIO officers President Herb Mabry, Secretary Martha True, and Secretary-Treasurer (later President) Richard Ray are depicted, as are other notable figures in the labor community, including Joe Jacobs, Al Kehrer, and Charlie Key. Events include state AFL-CIO conventions, Labor Awards dinners, Solidarity Day parades and events, Georgia State University Labor Archives events and lectures, AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education (C.O.P.E) events, and civil rights functions, including Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Parades and A. Philip Randolph Institute functions.

This collection includes photographs depicting the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) strike against Eastern Airlines in 1989. The Eastern Airlines strike photographs consist of picket line scenes, Reverend Jesse Jackson’s support of the strike, and the participation of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). Other strikes depicted in this collection include the 1987 National Football League players’ strike, the Amalgamated Transit Union strike against Greyhound Lines Inc., United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC) strike against Foote and Davies Company (Atlanta, Ga.), the Communication Workers of America (CWA) strike against Western Electric Company, and the J.P Stevens boycott campaign.

Political events documented in the photographs include the presidential campaigns of Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis, 1984 and 1988, as well as the 1988 Democratic National Convention, held in Atlanta; campaigns for Georgia’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives by Ben Jones and Congressman John Lewis; and state-level campaigns, such as Bo Ginn’s campaign for governor in 1982, and Joe Tanner’s for Georgia Labor Commissioner. The photographs depict numerous other political figures, including Zell Miller, Andrew Young, and Maynard Jackson. Civil rights leaders appearing in the photographs include Coretta Scott King and Rev. James Orange.

Some Unions represented in this collection include the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 613, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 732, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) local 1790 and 2590, Communication Workers of America (CWA), Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA) Local 85, Georgia State Employees Association (GSEA) Local 1985, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC), United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), The International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Union Local 387, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers (AWIU) Local 48, and United Association of Plumbers and Steam Fitters of the United States and Canada Local 72.