Scope and Content of the Collection
This collection contains an annotated listing of charter grants for AFL Federal Local Unions (FLUs) and AFL-CIO Directly Affiliated Local Unions (DALUs), an index, and charter record forms for DALUs. FLU charters were granted to local organizations of seven or more wage workers who were also trade unionists but not members of any affiliate. After the 1955 merger of the AFL and CIO, FLUs and CIO Local Industrial Unions (LIUs) were combined, if corresponding LIUs existed, and re-chartered as AFL-CIO Directly Affiliated Local Unions (DALUs). Materials in the collection date from 1924 to 1981, although the bulk of material dates after June 1933, when records of defunct FLUs were destroyed, to 1956, the time of the AFL-CIO merger. Records dated before 1933 pertain to FLUs still in existence at the time the files were purged. Some records have annotations dating to 1981.
While not offering detailed data, the collection provides a quick reference on the founding and demise of particular FLUs and DALUs. The records include FLU name, location, date of charter, charter number and the name of the organizer submitting the application. If the charter was subsequently revoked or transferred, a handwritten annotation frequently appears, noting the date and action taken. One line to several paragraphs of commentary also appears for each FLU, describing the union's general situation and membership. The commentary appears to have been excerpted from local union charter records now preserved in Micro 22.
The final folder contains listings and charter record forms for AFL-CIO DALUs chartered after the AFL-CIO merger. Listings include the name, address, charter date, and number of the DALU, as well as handwritten notes denoting revocation or transfer of charter and the date the action was taken. Also present are "Charter Record for Directly Affiliated Local Union" forms, providing DALU name, location, charter date, industry jurisdiction, and company name. DALU charter numbers range from 3000 to 3098.
