1935 - UAW-CIO formed on April 27th at South Bend, Indiana. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs National Labor Relations Act strengthening right of workers to organize unions and bargain collectively. AFL charters International Union UAW; first convention opens Aug. 26 in Detroit with 200 delegates. AFL president William Green appoints Francis Dillon as first UAW president. Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) is formed by AFL-affiliated unions seeking to organize workers in steel, rubber, auto and other mass-production industries. Social Security Act signed, creating income security for retirees.
1936 Homer Martin elected second UAW president at second convention.
1937 Chrysler workers sit-down March 8-25 at all nine Detroit plants to win UAW recognition. Sit-down strikes sweep plants around the country in March and April as drives for union recognition flourish in numerous industries. Battle of the Overpass: On May 26, Ford Service Dept. thugs severely beat UAW organizers Walter P. Reuther, J.J. Kennedy, Richard Frankensteen and Robert Kanter, among others, trying to stop them from handing out leaflets at plant gates.
1939 - North American Aviation opens manufacturing facility at Grand Prairie.
R.J. Thomas elected third UAW president at convention in Cleveland.
1940 UAW campaign to organize agricultural implement workers moves forward with
major election victory at International Harvester, Fort Wayne, Ind.
1941 - Ford local's President R.E. Curtis becomes International Rep, appoints
Jack Anderson as President of new Local 645 to be organized at North American.
First Local 645 meeting. Jack Anderson elected president of Local 645. Hiram
Moon is Secretary Treasurer. On June 20th, the NLRB rules that Ford must accept
union at Dallas plant.
1942 Equal pay for equal work by women negotiated at GM. Mass influx of women
into the workforce replaces men called to military duty. UAW Vice President
Walter P. Reuther proposes converting auto plants to "Arsenal for Democracy"
to build 500 planes a day.
1943 - UAW-CIO wins North American ratification election in February. UAW urges peaceful integration of aircraft line at Packard Motor Car Co. after Ku Klux Klan tries to inflame white workers against African Americans. UAW Aircraft (now Aerospace) Dept. instituted.
1944 - O.H. Britt President of local 645. UAW's first National Aircraft Conference plans for conversion from wartime to peacetime aircraft production.
1945 - Olen Jones President of local 645. North American Aviation closed and locked its doors at the end of WWII. Click here for more on the formation of the UAW Local. UAW strikes Ford of Canada Windsor Plant for 99 days winning Rand Formula, requiring all workers who benefit from the union contract to pay dues whether they join the union or not. Union strikes GM for 113 days demanding postwar wage increase. Contract provides 18 1/2 cents an hour in wage increases, dues check-off and other gains.
1946 - Temco organized in North American's main building, known later as LTV Building 1. Union dues were $2.50 per month. Joe F. Ivy is first President of the new Local 390 UAW-CIO.
1946 - Walter Reuther elected President of UAW-CIO.
1947 Union establishes Agricultural Implement Department. Six paid holidays
in GM contract sets pattern for other companies. Taft-Hartley Act weakens unions
by outlawing the closed shop, forbidding political contributions and making
unions iable for breach of contracts. Taft-Hartley made it harder for unions
to organize and bargain.
1947-48 - Anti-union Taft Hartley Law passes. Texas becomes "Right to work (scab)" state.
1948 - Chance Vought moves to Grand Prairie location. UAW-CIO wins COLA at
General Motors. Click here to read about the formation of the UAW Local at Vought
and the period to 1962. UAW wins first Annual Improvement Factor raise at GM
recognizing workers' contribution to regular productivity increases, and first
union contract containing an Escalator Clause tied to the cost-of-living index.
1949 - On August 3 the UAW-CIO won election for representation. First employee-funded
pension program is won at Ford. Local 893 is formed at Vought and wins first
hospitalization plan.
1950 - George F. Dull elected President Local 893. December 3, first COLA was
paid: $.03. COLA was lost in the next contract at Local 893. Local 390 continued
theirs. UAW-CIO uses the new medium, television, to explain their demands at
Chrysler.
1950 Chrysler workers win pensions following 104-day strike under slogan "Too
Old to Work, Too Young to Die. UAW wins modified union shop and first partially
paid hospitalization and surgical program at GM.
1950 First pattern bargaining with Ford modeled on earlier GM agreement.
1951 - Charlie Scott elected President Local 893. Scott appoints the first African
American union officer -- Steward Herschel Matthews. Temco Corporation establishes
a plant in Garland. Local 1081 is formed there. Ruth McLendan is their delegate
to the 1953 UAW-CIO convention.
1953 - Lockout over badges at Vought. Dean F. Sabine elected President Local
893. UAW-CIO and International Association of Machinists work out a joint plan
for negotiating with aerospace companies. The last Corsair fighter airplane
is produced by Vought. 1953 Office Workers Department established, later, in
1962, named Technical, Office and Professional (TOP) Department.
1954 - Local 893 represents 5,335 members and 2400 nonmembers as of June 10.
1955 - Chance Vought unveils new XF8U-1 day fighter. Workers at GM & Ford
win first SUB (Supplemental Unemployment Benefits) plan. Eleanora Purcell is
elected Shop Chairperson at Vought. Everett Day becomes President. Local 893
represents 5,100 members and 2,800 nonmembers as of September 1.
1955 UAW wins first Supplemental Unemployment Benefits (SUB) at Ford, first
in the industry, as part of an effort to win a guaranteed annual wage for workers.
AFL and CIO merge to unify labor movement. Walter Reuther serves as vice President.
1956 - AF of L and CIO merge into AFL-CIO. UAW-CIO is renamed UAW, UAW-AFL becomes
Allied Industrial Workers. H.A. McClung elected President of Local 390. Roy
Evans was President of Local 893. Local 893 set up first direct negotiations
with insurance carrier over workers comp. Andy Anderson President of Local 1081.
Local 893 represents 5,460 members and 1,750 nonmembers as of September 1.
1957 - Ralph Hedge President of Local 1081. The local wins burial policy. Local
ran a tv show, "Labor Bosses of Texas", to help get Ralph Yarborough
elected Senator. Local 893 represents 6,500 members and 3,500 nonmembers as
of October 15.
1957 Public Review Board instituted as a guardian of members' rights, and moral
and ethical practices of the union.
1958 - Joe Roschie President of Local 390. Resigned in middle of term. John
Chandler took over. Bill Thurmond President of Local 1081.
1959 - H.E. Farnsworth President of Local 390. Landrum-Griffin Act establishes
strict financial reporting procedures for unions and the election of union officers.
1960 - April, Local 893 conducts "hit and run" strike. Dues paying
membership fell from 3,522 (90%) in January to 1,830 (47%) in April. A decertification
election was held on April 6th. 3,900 employees were judged eligible to vote;
282 voted "no union" and 3,267 (92% of voters) voted for the UAW!
1961 - Bill Owens President of Local 893. At GM, UAW wins fully paid hospitalization
and sick benefits; no-discrimination on basis of race, creed, color or national
origin.
1962 - Local 848 formed from 893 (Chance Vought) and Temco locals 1081 and 390.
Bill Owens first president of Local 848. First contract with LTV dated October
1. It includes COLA. Click here for history of Local 848 beginning in 1962.
1962 Nelson Jack Edwards becomes first African-American member of UAW International
Executive Board.
1963 - Local 848's newsletter is given the name Texas Aerospacer. UAW supports
mass civil rights march in Detroit where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. previewed
his "I Have a Dream" speech. Later, union is major supporter of the
March on Washington and lobbies for Civil Rights Law.
1964 Fully paid hospitalization, surgical and medical insurance won for Big
Three retirees. With UAW support Congress passes Civil Rights Act. UAW first
major union to endorse the Equal Rights Amendment.
1965 - Local 848 represents 3,500 members and 500 nonmembers as of April. 1965
UAW supports Cesar Chavez and the farm workers.
1966 Olga Madar becomes first woman on UAW International Executive Board.
1967 - Nova Howard President until May 1969. New union hall at 2218 E Main Street
dedicated on January 28th. Previously they had used a remodeled bowling alley.
While hall was being built, they used temporary offices at 909 Dalworth. UAW
withdraws from AFL-CIO on February 3. Local 848 represents 5,009 members and
750 nonmembers as of February 1. 1967 Wage parity won for Canadian and U.S.
workers at Chrysler. Eleven paid holidays won in 1970 for Big Three autoworkers.
1968 - Local 848 wins Christmas shutdown. The local helps plant guards organize
their union, UPGWA 263. Supplemental Unemployment Benefits were negotiated with
LTV. The system lasted until 1972. Local 848 represented 9,701 members and 5,000
nonmembers as of March. 1968 UAW leaves AFL-CIO over strategic differences on
domestic and foreign policy.
1969 - B.J. Meeks President of Local 848.
1970 - Walter Reuther dies in plane crash. Leonard Woodcock becomes President
of UAW. UAW wins 30-and-Out early retirement program at age 58 and other gains
following 8-week strike against GM. Occupational Health and Safety Act passed.
Prescription drug coverage won for Big Three retirees.
1971 - Nova Howard President from May to December. After a formal protest by
B.J. Meeks, the UAW International overturned the election. B.J. Meeks was President
from December until May, 1973.
1972 Wayne County Community College clerical workers become the first college/university
employees to join UAW.
1973 - Frank Inman Jr President of Local 848
1973 Union-Company National Safety and Health Committees established by pattern-setting
automobile and agricultural implement contracts.
1975 Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs dedicated at Wayne
State University in Detroit.
1977 - Jack Jones President of Local 848. Douglas Fraser succeeds Woodcock as
sixth UAW president. Volkswagen of America New Stanton, Pa., plant workers vote
to join UAW.
1978 - Nova Howard President of Local 848. To fight the racist apartheid system
in South Africa, the UAW announces that its funds will be withdrawn from banks
which participate in loans to that country.
1979 Union successfully lobbies congress to win federal loan guarantee to save
Chrysler Corp. from bankruptcy. UAW resists concessions at GM and Ford, and
at International Harvester, following a 172-day strike at the agricultural implement
maker.
1980 Workers win representation on Chrysler Board of Directors and UAW President
Fraser takes seat.
1981 - Nova Howard dies. Tommy Bates President of Local 848. UAW rejoins National
AFL-CIO to strengthen unity of the labor movement. Thousands of UAW members
join 500,000 demonstrators at a Solidarity Day in Washington.
1982 UAW wins profit-sharing, Guaranteed Income Stream, moratorium on plant
closings and company-funded training programs at GM and Ford. National Joint
Skill Development Education and Training Committee fund establishes program
to help workers prepare for a changing industry.
1982-83 205-day strike defends workers against a barrage of takeaways attempted by Caterpillar.
1983 Owen Bieber elected seventh president of the UAW.
1984 - Carroll Butler President of Local 848. Click here for the 1984-85 fight
against LTV. GM contract sets new job security pattern: eligible workers with
one year or more seniority to be offered Jobs Bank instead of layoff. Martin
Luther King Jr. birthday becomes a paid holiday.
1984-85 - LTV imposes takeaway contract. Union "runs the plant backward"
for 15 months. 65 loyal union members fired. Concludes with 11 hour strike and
a contract July 1, 1985. UAW reinstates Annual Improvement Factor in Chrysler
contract following strike. More than 22,000 state of Michigan employees join
UAW. UAW landmark partnership with New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI),
a GM-Toyota joint venture, brings thousands of laid-off members back to work.
UAW and GM Saturn plant agreement creates milestone of full worker participation
in joint union-management decision-making.
1986 - July 17, LTV declares bankruptcy and tries to dump pensions.
1990 - UAW International declares union elections bad and supervises new elections.
BJ Meeks defeated as Chairman. Nelson Mandela receives UAW membership card while
visiting UAW members at the Ford Rouge complex following his release from prison
in South Africa. Mandela expressed his appreciation for the union's aid in fighting
the apartheid system.
1992 - Local 848 ratifies five year contract. LTV Aerospace is sold to two separate
companies, Carlyle and Loral. Later, Loral sells to Lockheed and Carlyle sells
to Northrop Grumman.
1993 - BJ Meeks re-elected Chairman. Mike Hall elected President. UAW supports
and President Clinton signs the Family Medical Leave Act.
1995 Stephen P. Yokich elected eighth UAW president.
1996 College tuition assistance negotiated for children of Big Three workers.
1998 Secretary-treasurer Ruben Burks becomes first African-American to serve
in the union's second-highest office.
1999 - Meeks declines to run for office. Rocky Wagner elected Vought Chairman.
Hall defeated by Chuck Stanley and becomes International Rep. UAW wins Election
Day as a paid holiday for workers in Big Three contracts. Bargaining for Families
initiative leads to development of childcare and other family programs, and
UAW-Ford Family Service and Learning Centers. More than 10,000 academic student
employees across the University of California system vote for UAW representation
Three units comprising 2,600 workers at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in
Toledo, Ohio, join UAW.
2001 Stephen P. Yokich Family Service and Learning Center dedicated in Sterling
Heights, Mich. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks the International Executive
Board authorizes a $250,000 contribution to the American Red Cross Disaster
Relief Fund.
2002 - Russell Strowd elected Vought Chairman. Reecie Giesecke elected President.
2002 June, Ron Gettelfinger elected ninth UAW president. Secretary-Treasurer
Elizabeth Bunn becomes first woman to serve in the union's second-highest office.
Strikes at four Johnson Controls facilities win contracts, recognition and a
neutrality agreement covering 26 plants and 8,000 workers. While dozens of corporations
avoid pension obligations UAW wins $17.6 million award from Honeywell for severance,
health and pension benefits for more than 500 retirees.
2003 Freightliner workers at Gastonia and Cleveland, N.C., facilities vote for
UAW representation. The 4,000 workers are the largest group of factory workers
to unionize in years. Puerto Rican Treasury Dept. workers join UAW bringing
total UAW membership in Puerto Rico to 20,000. Led by UAW President Ron Gettelfinger,
the union gets five contract agreements in five days with GM, Ford, Chrysler,
Visteon and Delphi covering more than 777,000 active and retired workers and
surviving spouses. UAW organizes 1,000 workers at Dana Elizabethtown, Ky., plant.
The first under a neutrality agreement with Dana management.
2005 Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels voids the bargaining rights of 23,000 state
employees, 14,000 represented by the UAW, on his second day in office. The UAW
International Executive Board authorizes $500,000 donation to Oxfam, a hunger
and poverty relief organization, to aid Asian tsunami victims.