Finding Aid to the Bertha Metro Papers, 1936-1973 MS 3422

Finding aid prepared by California Historical Society staff, revised by Tanya Hollis.
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105
415-357-1848
reference@calhist.org
© 2001, revised 2009


Collection Summary

Title: Bertha Metro papers
Date (inclusive): 1936-1973
Collection Number: MS 3422
Creator: Metro, Bertha, 1899-1976
Extent: 3 boxes (1.25 Linear feet)
Repository: California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105
415-357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/
Physical Location: Collection is stored onsite.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in English.
Abstract: Correspondence, negotiations for contracts, copies of contracts, organizing documents, strike leaflets, and other union documents, together with transcripts of oral history interviews of Metro and her daughter, Phyllis Foley, also a union official; ephemera; and some personal correspondence. Includes material relating to the hotel strikes of 1937 and 1941-1942. Correspondents include Hugo Ernst, labor official who represented culinary workers.

Information for Researchers

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research; researchers must sign an agreement of use form. Photocopying is prohibited.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to the California Historical Society. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Research Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the California Historical Society as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Bertha Metro Papers, MS 3422, California Historical Society.

Separated Materials

Photographs of Bertha Metro and Phyllis Foley have been transferred to the Portraits section of the CHS Photograph Collection.

Related Collections

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections Number

NUCMC 82-438

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Collection donated by Phyllis Foley, 1979.

Accruals

No additions are expected.

Processing Information

Processed by California Historical Society staff.

Biography

Bertha Metro was born in England. Her father, a socialist, imbued her with some of his ideals and principles. While still a young girl, the family emmigrated to Canada where her father was killed in a tragic mining accident. In her early teens she went to work to help support the family, eventually obtaining employment at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
After her marriage and the birth of a daughter on September 18, 1922 she and her family moved to Idaho where her husband (a U.S. citizen) had relatives. From there they moved to San Francisco in the early 1930's. Her husband obtained employment on the waterfront and she went to work in a large hotel as a maid.
In 1936 Ms. Metro began organizing the hotel maids on a voluntary basis. At this time she made contact with Hugo Ernst, a labor official who represented the culinary workers. With his approval and some moral assistance she embarked on a career which eventually led her to a full time paid career as a labor organizer and union official. The union she represented changed its name many times and was last called the Hotel, Motel and Club Service Workers Union, Local #283, affiliated with the Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union.
Early in 1939 an oral history was narrated by Ms. Metro for California Historical Society. However, due to her poor health and advanced age, the interview was not concluded.
Shortly after the interview Ms. Metro died and her daughter, Phyllis Foley (also a union official), agreed to be interviewed to help complete her mother's story and, moreover, trace her own activities as a union official, (Oral History interviews for both women are available at CHS).
A key period in the life of Ms. Metro was the hotel strike of 1937 and the hotel strike of 1941-1942. This led to another oral history project (in process, 1979-1980) in which interviews are being conducted with one representative of each of the six culinary unions involved as well as with union counsel, a member of the CIO (which had formed a dual union) and perhaps, in the future, one of the hotel owners or representatives.

Scope and Contents

Includes material from Bertha Metro's life as a union official, and includes correspondence, negotiations for contracts, copies of contracts, organizing documents, strike leaflets, and other union documents, together with transcripts of oral history interviews of Metro and her daughter, Phyllis Foley, also a union official; ephemera; and some personal correspondence. Includes material relating to the hotel strikes of 1937 and 1941-1942. Correspondents include Hugo Ernst, labor official who represented culinary workers. The only personal letters contained in the collection relate to Ms. Metro's endorsement of various politicians running for office, or thank you letters for such endorsements. The collection contains miscellaneous ephemera her husband acquired in Canada; union picket cards as well as some pay vouchers from Canadian mines. One interesting exchange of letters between Ms. Metro and Hugo Ernst expresses her apologies when Ernst felt she had slighted his authority.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Ernst, Hugo, 1876-1954
Foley, Phyllis, 1922-
Hotel & Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union. Local 283 (San Francisco, Calif.).
Collective bargaining--Hotels.
Hotel cleaning personnel--California.
Hotels--Employees.
Labor contract--California.
Labor unions--California.
Labor unions--Officials and employees.
Strikes and lockouts--California.
Women labor leaders.
Women labor union members--California.
Women--Employment--California.
Oral histories.


Box 1, Folder 1

Chronology of Hotel Strikes, San Francisco 1937, 1941-1942

Box 1, Folder 2

Oral history transcript of Bertha Metro 1979

Box 1, Folder 3

Correspondence 1939-1973

Box 1, Folder 4

Correspondence (as a union official; reports as business agent; picket duty cards, membership cards), 1939-1973

Box 1, Folder 5

Photographs and awards of Ms. Metro's

Box 1, Folder 6

Inner-union correspondence and leaflets, work rules 1939-1973

Box 1, Folder 7

Union Minutes, Local #283 circa 1930-1940

Box 1, Folder 8

Union election material circa 1930-1949

Box 1, Folder 9

Official Local #283 publications, leaflets, etc. circa 1940s

Box 1, Folder 10

CIO union leaflets circa 1930-1949

Box 1, Folder 11

Unofficial union leaflets and Rank & File publications

Box 1, Folder 12

Arbitration and negotiations, hotel service unions circa 1930-1949

Box 1, Folder 12A

Membership Lists

Box 2, Folder 13

Union contracts 1938-1962

Box 2, Folder 14

Contracts and arbitrations awards 1937-1960

Box 2, Folder 15

Contracts, Fred G. Athearn Award 1937 December 22

Box 2, Folder 16

Contracts, Ansley E. Salz Award 1942 January

Box 2, Folder 17

Contracts 1950 September 25

Box 2, Folder 18

Contracts, Arthur Miller Award 1950 August

Box 2, Folder 19

Contracts, Adjustment Board decisions 1939 September, 1950 November

Box 2, Folder 20

Contracts (other Unions), miscellaneous dates

Box 2, Folder 21

Legal documents regarding union jurisdiction, miscellaneous dates

Box 2, Folder 22

Strike leaflets, hotel strike 1941-1942

Box 3, Folder 23

Official Labor publications, miscellaneous

Box 3, Folder 24

Newspaper clippings, miscellaneous

Box 3, Folder 25

Miscellaneous material