AFL Federal Local Unions (FLUs) and AFL-CIO Directly Affiliated Local Unions (DALUs) Charter records
Collection
0016-LBR-RG28-001
Administered by the AFL-CIO Office of the Secretary-Treasurer, and later the AFL-CIO Organizing Department, 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 from 1924 to 1981. FLU and DALU charters were granted to local organizations of wage workers who were also trade unionists but not members of any affiliate. The collection provides a quick reference on the founding and demise of particular FLUs and DALUs.
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1.875 Linear Feet
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.
Information about the AFL and AFL-CIO Organizing Department history[departmental history] [and] [this collection] is available in the external document below.
The listing is arranged alphabetically by state and then by date of charter. At the beginning of the collection is one folder containing an index listing FLUs numerically by charter number (each FLU having been assigned a number upon chartering). FLU charter numbers range from 18260 to 24958. Next to the particular charter number appears the state in which the FLU is located. The particular state file can then be consulted for the charter number sought.
While the AFL president and Executive Council bore the responsibility for issuing charters, paperwork was generated and maintained by the office of the AFL secretary-treasurer. This continued after the merger, with FLU and DALU records primarily handled by Wesley Reedy, Assistant to the Secretary-Treasurer. In the early 1980s, the job of overseeing DALU charters was passed on to the Department of Organization and Field Services. The charter record books, however, were apparently transferred to the AFL-CIO archives before the 1980s reorganization. The George Meany Memorial Archives transferred these records as part of a major transfer of their archive and library holdings to the University of Maryland Libraries in 2013.
In spite of heavy use, the collection is in excellent condition, having been stored in hardcover books until processed. Most information is carefully typed and organized, although some later annotations have been made in ink. Materials were originally contained in a series of black books. When processed by the George Meany Memorial Archives staff, charter records were removed from the books and placed in acid-free folders.
Edmund Wehrle at the George Meany Memorial Archives initially processed these records in 1992. The University of Maryland Libraries received the records and the finding aid in 2013. Bria Parker migrated the information contained in this finding aid from the George Meany Memorial Archives' Eloquent system. All migrated finding aids have been cleaned using OpenRefine software and ingested into ArchivesSpace using programmatic scripts created in Python. Upon ingest, Rebecca Thayer reviewed and minor revisions to this finding aid. Revisions include changes to biographical/historical notes, scope and content notes, and the creation of new collection numbers. Rebecca Thayer also enhanced custodial histories and re-wrote collection titles to better conform to archival standards.
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives