International Union of Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers, Local 191 (Rome, Ga.) records

The International Union of Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers [IUE] (AFL-CIO) was formed on November 2, 1949. James B. Carey founded the IUE after the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America [UE] were expelled from the CIO because of suspected communist influence of the UE's leadership. Founded without any membership or treasury, the CIO recognized the newly organized IUE, and the union quickly grew to more than 300,000 members within three years.

Within a year after its founding convention in Philadelphia, IUE had adopted its first constitution, elected Carey as its president, defeated the UE in several key elections and negotiated successful national contracts with General Motors [GM], General Electric [GE], and Westinghouse. In one day in 1950, 25,000 GM Workers in five local unions chose the IUE over the UE. By the mid-1950s, IUE was the dominant industrial union representing workers in the electrical-electronics manufacturing sector.

From 1955 to 1956, IUE locals across the country declared a strike against Westinghouse. The strike lasted 156 days, one of the longest national strikes in labor history, idling 55,000 members and closing down 35 plants from coast to coast. In 1960 and 1969, IUE called strikes against GE, the latter of which lasted 101 days and resulted in a lawsuit that was heard before the Supreme Court of the United States. The court ruled in the IUE's favor. This lawsuit was instrumental in forcing negotiations with the notoriously stalwart GE.

The IUE Local 191 of Rome, Georgia, originated the significant 1969 strike against GE that led to the eventual federal lawsuit. As of 2010, the IUE Local 191 is still active in the Rome and Northwest Georgia communities.