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Alliance for Labor Action records

 Collection
Identifier: L1974-04

Scope and Content of the Records

Series I, Office Files Maintained by Vice President Gibbons and Arranged by Subject (accession L1974-04), bulks with files pertaining to the social concerns of the A.L.A. Also included is the original draft and several preliminary drafts of the A.L.A.'s first constitution and statement of purpose. Some financial records and correspondence from the national office, organizing reports and correspondence from the A.L.A.'s Atlanta organizing campaign (1969-70), and assorted clippings and pamphlets complete the series.

Accession L1974-09 makes up Series II, which contains 2 subseries. Subseries 1, Alliance for Labor Action Records, 1969-1973, consists of correspondence, legal and financial documents, and printed material. Documentation shows that the ALA was primarily an organizing unit similar to the AFL-CIO and that its principal financial backers were the Truckers and Helpers Local Union No. 728 and General Teamsters Local Union No. 528. Subseries 2, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 528 records, illuminates the local's relationship with companies whose employees were Teamster members.

Dates

  • Creation: 1963-1973

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.

History of the Alliance for Labor Action

The Alliance for Labor Action was formed in April, 1969, through the combined efforts of the Teamsters and the United Automobile Workers. The Chemical Workers and the Distributive Workers joined later in this federation of autonomous unions which acted in combination to promote social concerns and to organize the unorganized. The A.L.A. was dissolved in 1971 by mutual agreement of the unions involved. Harold Gibbons was acting director and vice president of the A.L.A. and an official of the Teamsters Union.

The Alliance for Labor Action's co-chairmen:

1969-1971
Frank E. Fitzsimmons, General Vice-President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
1969-1970
Walter P. Reuther, President of the United Auto Workers
1970-1971
Leonard Woodcock, President of the United Auto Workers

Extent

2.1 Linear Feet (in 6 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract:

The Alliance for Labor Action, intended to be an alternative to the AFL-CIO, was a federation of autonomous unions which acted to promote social concerns and to organize the unorganized. The Alliance, originally the Teamsters and the United Automobile Workers, later joined by the Chemical Workers and the Distributive Workers, was formed in April 1969 and disbanded in December 1971. Records of the Alliance for Labor Action consist primarily of files pertaining to the social concerns, as well as A.L.A.'s first constitution and statement of purpose, financial records and correspondence.

Organization of the Records

Series I. Office Files Maintained by Vice President Gibbons and Arranged by Subject (accession L1974-04), 1963-1971; Series II. Alliance for Labor Action and International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 528, Records (accession L1974-09), 1969-1973.

Acquisition Information

Office Files (Series I), donated by Harold J. Gibbons, January 24, 1974 (accession L1974-04). Alliance for Labor Action and International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 528 records (Series II) donated by Tony Zivalich, February 18, 1974 (accession L1974-09).

Separated Materials

During processing, materials were separated to other Southern Labor Archives Printed Collections. For photographs, see the Southern Labor Archives Photographs Collection finding aid. For pamphlets, see the Southern Labor Archives Pamphlet Collection finding aid (note that this collection has been weeded over time). For contracts, see the International Brotherhood of Teamsters contract collection finding aid.

Separated to Southern Labor Archives Agreements and Contracts Collection

  1. IBT Local 528, Motor Convoy, Inc., 1972 [accession L1974-09]
  2. IBT Local 528, Complete Auto Transit, 1970 [accession L1974-09]
  3. IBT Local 528, Atlanta Gas Light Company, 1972 [accession L1974-09]
  4. IBT Local 528, American Bakeries Co., 1970 [accession L1974-09]
  5. IBT Local 528, Allied Foods, Inc., 1972 [accession L1974-09]
  6. IBT Local 528, Bremen Steel Co., 1971 [accession L1974-09]
  7. IBT Local 528, Atlanta Contractors, undated [accession L1974-09]
  8. IBT Local 528, Associated Labor Committee, undated [accession L1974-09]
  9. IBT Local 528, General Contractors of America, Inc., 1970 [accession L1974-09]

Separated to Southern Labor Archives Pamphlet Collection

  1. 4 pamphlets [3 from accession L1974-04, 1 from accession L1974-09]

Separated to Southern Labor Archives Photographic Collection

  1. Four (4) photographs -- "America On The Move" campaign ads, 1973 [accession L1974-09]

Processing Information

Accession L1974-04 (Series I) inventoried by J. C. Nelson, March 14, 1975. Accession L1974-09 (Series II) inventoried by Mary Froehlich, July 7, 1977. Multiple finding aids combined into one collection guide.

Related Names

Subjects

Deaccessions

  • removed list of separated pamphlets from finding aid: International Federation of Chemical Workers [accession L1974-04] World Peace Council [accession L1974-04] Pamphlet concerning inflation [accession L1974-04] A. Philip Randolph Institute, 1970 [accession L1974-09]

Record Groups

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Alliance for Labor Action:
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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