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Guide to the Sacramento Mailers Union No. 31 records
MS0051
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Table of contents
Title: Sacramento Mailers Union No. 31 records
Dates: 1958-1981
Collection number: MS0051
Creator:
Sacramento Mailers Union No. 31
Creator:
International Typographical Union. Local 46 (Central Valley, Calif.)
Collection Size:
7 linear feet
(14 boxes)
Repository:
Center for Sacramento History
Sacramento, California 95811-0229
Abstract: The Sacramento Mailers Union No. 31 records consists of 7 linear feet of documents, the bulk of the material document the
union's labor strike with the Sacramento Bee newspaper in the 1970s. The Sacramento Mailers Union is organized into eight
series: Series 1. Administrative records, Series 2. Contracts and negotiations, Series 3. Arbitration and Grievances, Series
4. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Series 5. Labor strike , Series 6. Financial Materials, Series 7. Other Organizations,
and Series 8. Publications.
Physical location: 4H3-4, 4G1 Drawer E
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection is open for research use.
All requests to publish or quote from private collections held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted
in writing to csh@cityofsacramento.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of CSH 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 patron.
No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.
[Identification of item and/or item number], [box and folder number], Sacramento Mailers Union No. 31 records, MS0051, Center
for Sacramento History.
The Sacramento Mailers Union No. 31 records were originally deposited at the Labor Archives and Research Center at San Francisco
State University. In 2000, the records were transferred to the Center for Sacramento and gifted by Charles Davis of the Northern
California Mailers Union to the Center for Sacramento History on August 7, 2001 (accession #2001/079).
Processed and finding aid created by graduate student intern Sarah Logue in 2000.
Biography / Administrative History
The Sacramento Mailers Guild was established to represent certain employees at The Sacramento Bee newspaper, including those
working on the production line. The Sacramento Mailers Chapel affiliated with the International Typographical Union in 1971,
becoming Sacramento Mailers Union No. 31. Members voted to merge the International Typographical Union with the International
Mailers Union in 1978. Contract and labor disputes became severe in the early 1970s, and the membership voted to strike in
April 1978. The strike lasted over two years, with union members experiencing financial distress, break-ins at their headquarters,
and picket-line violence.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Sacramento Mailers Union No. 31 records consists of approximately 7 linear feet of documents. The bulk of the material
is from the strike period, although the collection includes items from as early as 1958. The Sacramento Mailers Union is organized
into the following series: Series 1. Administrative records, Series 2. Contracts and negotiations, Series 3. Arbitration
and Grievances, Series 4. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Series 5. Labor strike , Series 6. Financial materials, Series
7. Other organizations, and Series 8. Publications. There also is a single box of restricted materials. Many of the collection's
highlights are in the Strike Materials, such as a letter from former California governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown offering his
assistance as a "friend of both sides;" a four-page letter from the local's president explaining the reasons for the strike;
images from the picket line; and details about union efforts to raise money during the strike period. Union activities during
the strike are also reflected in some of the other series, including minutes and arbitration and grievances.
Series 1. Administrative records
Series 2. Contracts and negotiations
Series 3. Arbitration and grievances
Series 4. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
Series 5. Labor strike
Series 6. Financial materials
Series 7. Other organizations
Series 8. Publications
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Sacramento bee (Sacramento, Calif.)
Sacramento Mailers Union Local 31
International Typographical Union. Local 46 (Central Valley, Calif.)
Newspaper employees--Labor unions
Strikes and lockouts--California
Strikes and lockouts--Newspapers
Sacramento (Calif.)--History
McClatchy Company records, Center for Sacramento History
Daniel F. Buckley papers, Center for Sacramento History
James K. Staley papers, Center for Sacramento History