International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Ironworkers, Local 55 records

The records of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, and Ornamental Ironworkers, Local 55, include the minutes of the executive board, the Wage Negotiation Committee and the Joint Apprenticeship Committee. Correspondence, steward reports, agreements, contracts, financial ledgers and reports, membership records, and apprentice educational material round out the collection. Taken together, this collection provides a rather in-depth look into the activities and thoughts of union officials and the employers who contract with them.

At the heart of the collection are the minutes. Not only do these records document the activities of the executive board, the minutes follow negotiations concerning contracts and agreements, and the activities of the union's educational programs. The minutes of the executive board act as a brief introduction to the union's history. Although the series is nearly complete, gaps do occur from March 1920 through December 1923, November 1942 through December 1944, and July 1971 to June 1972. The minutes of the Joint Apprenticeship Committee are complete despite their short span from 1953 through 1965. Finally, the minutes of the Wage Negotiating Committee cover the years from 1960 to 1986, and exist in four-year intervals that span the life of each successive agreement. Applications for membership, member termination notices, and attendance lists are also included.

The correspondence is rather extensive (1948-1986) but scattered, and includes letters between the union and the International Headquarters, government agencies, union members, employers, the Northwest Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, the Associated Building Contractors, and the inter-trade Joint Apprenticeship Committee. The Collective Bargaining Agreements are complete from 1948 through 1994. The agreements span two and four-year intervals and are a valuable source for researchers looking to document the ways in which unions have impacted corporate management and the local economy over time.

Additional materials consist of the financial reports, the steward reports, and the educational printed material. Although the steward reports are extensive and complete, the records span only three years from 1973-1975, with the exception of one from 1979-1980. Although they provide a limited amount of information, the reports may be of use to those researchers looking to find documentation of job site problems or activities. The financial records are limited and include dues registers (1926-1929, 1931-1936, 1942-1946), financial reports, payment vouchers, payroll information sheets, and wage scale forms. The printed materials consist of three journal articles on apprenticeship training, a newspaper clipping about the union's training program, apprenticeship training standards, journeyman examinations, general working rules, and miscellaneous pamphlets.