Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) United Service Workers West Records
larc.ms.0389
larc.ms.0389
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Service Employees International Union (SEIU) United Service Workers West records
Creator:
Service Employees International Union. United Service Workers West.
Collection number: larc.ms.0389
Accession number: 2014/001
Extent:
9.5 cubic feet
(6 cartons and 2 oversize boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1934-2008
Date (bulk): 1950-1970
Repository:
Labor Archives and Research Center
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
San Francisco State University
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA 94132-1722
(415) 405-5571
larc@sfsu.edu
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English.
Abstract: The collection comprises the California records of the Building Service Employees International Union (BSEIU), later known
as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and contains the predecessor records for Local 24/7 and Local 44. The
records document the union's involvement in many local and state-wide political campaigns, elections, and BSEIU conventions.
Also included are membership materials, contracts and logbooks for the Window Cleaners Union Local 44, various union and non-union
publications, and grievance arbitration materials.
[Identification of item], Service Employees International Union (SEIU) United Service Workers West Records, larc.ms.0389,
Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco State University.
Collection is open for research. Some material is restricted to protect personal identifiable information. Access restrictions
are noted at the series level. Please contact the Director of the Labor Archives and Research Center for more information.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives and Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of the Labor Archives and Research Center 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.
Original photographs of Major Joseph L. Alioto are filed in LARC photograph collection.
Collection donated by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) United Service Workers West in 2014; accession number
2014/001.
Processed by Frances Wratten Kaplan in 2014.
The records are arranged into the following six series: Series 1: Political and campaign materials, 1946-1995; Series 2: Membership
Materials, 1949-2008; Series 3: BSEIU Convention Materials, 1955-1968; Series 4: Publications,1934-1970, further subdivided
into Bulletins and Newsletters, and Clippings; Series 5: Photographs; and Series 6: Grievances, 1989-2008.
The Building Service International Employees Union (BSEIU) was founded in 1921 primarily to organize window washers and janitors.
In 1968 it renamed itself Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Service Employees International Union (SEIU) United
Service Workers West represents a range of service workers across California, including janitorial workers, security officers,
airport service workers, stadium and arena workers, and other property service workers.
The collection comprises the California records of the Building Service Employees International Union (BSEIU), later known
as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and contains the predecessor records for Local 24/7 and Local 44. The
records document the union's involvement in many local and state-wide political campaigns, elections, and BSEIU conventions.
Also included are membership materials, contracts and logbooks for the Window Cleaners Union Local 44, various union and non-union
publications, and grievance arbitration materials.
The bulk of the collection comprises material produced between 1950 and 1970 when the BSEIU was under the leadership of George
Hardy, Secretary-Treasurer, Vice President, and later President of the BSEIU. Material from this period highlights the union's
involvement in civil rights through its support of organizations such as the Council on Political Education (COPE), Congress
of Racial Equality (CORE), the San Francisco Branch of the NAACP, and the Bay Area Committee for Bogalusa.
Publication materials in the collection consist of local union bulletins, newsletters, and newspaper clippings from union
and non-union publications, including:
San Francisco Labor News;
California AFL-CIO News;
AFL-CIO News;
Cascade Labor News;
Oregon Labor News;
The Los Angeles Times;
El Malcriado;
Service Union Reporter;
The Washington Service Employee;
Union News BSE; and
East Bay Labor Journal. Photographs in the collection consist primarily of Mayor Alioto.
The bulk of documents dated 1989 to 2007 record grievance cases and arbitration proceedings by SEIU Local 1877 and the labor
law firm Van Bourg, Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfeld (now Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfeld) on behalf of various union members.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Hardy, George, 1911-1990
Building Service Employees International Union.
Labor unions--Organizing--California.
Service Employees International Union.