Biographical Information:
Scope and Contents
Arrangement of Materials:
Electronic Format:
Conditions Governing Access:
Conditions Governing Use:
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Preferred Citation:
Processing Information:
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Paul J. Goldener United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of
America, Local 645 Collection
Creator:
Goldener, Paul J.
Identifier/Call Number: URB.PJG
Extent:
17.05 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1922-1979
Abstract: Paul J. Goldener was president of the
United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, Local 645, Van
Nuys, California from 1970-1978. The United Automobiles, Aerospace & Agricultural
Implement Workers of America (UAW) was founded in 1936 by Walter P. Reuther as the
collective bargaining representative for many of America's industrial workers. The records
contained in the Goldener collection document the history, development and accomplishments
of the UAW dating from 1937 to 1979. The bulk of the collection is composed of UAW
administrative records such as constitutions and by-laws, agreements, demands, minutes,
settlements, union reports and a variety of publications.
Language of Material: English
Biographical Information:
Paul J. Goldener was president of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural
Implement Workers of America, Local 645, Van Nuys, California. The United Automobiles,
Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) was founded in 1936 by
Walter P. Reuther as the collective bargaining representative for many of America's
industrial workers. One of the most dynamic and progressive unions in the world, the UAW
membership has grown from 231,894 to over 1.7 million today. Progressing from a handful of
local unions in the mid-1930s, the UAW now boasts 1,650 locals in the United States and
Canada, representing employees in more than 3,800 plants. The union plays an important role
in the lives of five million people in the UAW families.
The secret of UAW's success lies in its long-standing, pioneering efforts to improve the
wages, security, working conditions and other benefits of the workers it represents on a
contract-by-contract basis. Through collective bargaining, the UAW has won many benefits for
its members, including paid holidays, equal pay for equal work, severance pay, company-paid
life insurance, unemployment benefits, comprehensive health and safety provisions, relief
time on the job, earlier retirement and continuing improvements in local plant working
conditions.
In both the work place and in society as a whole, the UAW is guided by certain principles:
organization for the common good; preservation of dignity in the work place; a fair share of
the fruits of increasing productivity; job and income security; community-citizenship
responsibility; and brotherhood and solidarity... in the union, in the community, in the
nation and in the world.
The function of the UAW goes beyond collective bargaining. It conducts schools and camps
for active members and drop-in centers for retired members, it holds conferences with
teachers and ministers, and it fights for justice in legislative halls, the United Nations,
communities or on the picket lines. As former president of the UAW Leonard Woodcock said,
"We in the UAW can say truthfully that wherever people seek justice we are with them."
The UAW is administered by the International Executive Board whose officials are elected
by delegates to a constitutional convention held every two years. Delegates from a
geographic region, elected by secret ballot, choose a regional director who takes charge of
UAW affairs in that region. The regional directors and the International officers constitute
the International Executive Board of the UAW.
The membership meeting is the top authority in the local union and must be held once each
month. All officers of the local union are elected by the membership at secret ballot
elections every three years. The program and policies of the local union are the result of
rank-and-file action taken after open debate in membership meetings. The members elect, by
secret ballot, their representatives to the UAW Constitutional Convention.
The UAW is proud of its past achievements and dedicated to creating a better tomorrow -- a
greater measure of social justice, a higher degree of economic security and higher standards
of living for its members and their families and communities.
Scope and Contents
The
Paul J. Goldener United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural
Implement Workers of America, Local 645 Collection
documents the history,
development ,and accomplishments of the UAW dating from 1937 to 1977. The bulk of the
collection is composed of UAW administrative records such as constitutions and by-laws,
agreements, demands, minutes, settlements, union reports and a variety of publications. Also
included are resolutions, manuals on labor laws, labor cases, federal registers,
newsletters, press releases, brochures, pamphlets, handbooks, correspondence, newspaper
clippings, addresses, essays and testimony. The major portion part of the collection deals
with UAW Local #645, based in Van Nuys, California. It has been arranged in four series:
Administrative Records (1926-1977),
UAW
Collective Bargaining
(1950-1976),
Publications, Reports and
Programs
(1922-1979), and
Non-Manuscript Material
(ca.1960-1970).
Series I,
Administrative Records, consists predominantly of UAW
constitutions and by-laws, reports of UAW presidents to the national constitutional
conventions, correspondence, minutes, employees' reports, memorandums, and resolutions,
which combine to document workings of the UAW and its locals. The files are arranged
alphabetically.
Series II,
UAW Collective Bargaining, consists of agreements,
demands and settlements, including grievance cases, disposition proposals, and guidelines
for handling grievances. The records in this series document the UAW's struggles and
achievements at the bargaining table. The files are arranged alphabetically by subject.
Series III,
Publications, Reports, and Programs, consists of
essays and addresses by union leaders, government documents, general and professional
periodicals, pamphlets, handbooks, brochures, newsletters, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks,
manuals, and educational booklets pertaining to labor history, health insurance plans and
benefits, labor cases and legislation, auto industry, labor publications and education. Of
particular interest are copies of the
Valley Auto and Air News,
organ of UAW Local # 645, dating from October 1952 to December 1967. The files are arranged
alphabetically with respect to format and size of materials.
Series IV,
Non-Manuscript Material, includes audio cassettes,
photographs, and posters. Audio recordings include addresses given by UAW leaders at and
highlights of the UAW 1970 Special Convention, and photographs and posters document the
history and progress of strikes, collective bargaining, and political involvement of the
UAW.
Arrangement of Materials:
Series I: Administrative Records, 1926-1977
Series II: UAW Collective Bargaining, 1950-1976
Series III: Publications, Reports, and Programs, 1922-1979
Series IV: Non-Manuscript Material, ca.1960-1970
Electronic Format:
Conditions Governing Access:
The collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use:
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Paul J. Goldener, 1978
Preferred Citation:
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual,
or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Processing Information:
Robert G. Marshall, Xiaoquan Han, 1987
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Audiovisual materials
Documents
Photographs