Records and papers documenting the history, internal affairs, external relations, organizing efforts, and labor actions of the Hotel & Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union in San Francisco between the years 1937 and 1982, especially during the 1937, 1941-1942, 1978-1980, and 1980 culinary strikes. Collection contents include union histories; contracts; arbitration records; correspondence; minutes; by-laws; flyers; bulletins; official and rank-and-file newspapers; newspaper clippings; oral history transcripts and original sound recordings; audiocassettes; and ephemera.

Chartered in 1891 by the American Federation of Labor, the Hotel & Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union has represented culinary workers in San Francisco since the turn of the twentieth century. The union conducted sporadic labor actions throughout the early part of the century, culminating in the city-wide 1937 hotel strike, which was called after the Hotel Employers' Association refused to recognize the collective bargaining rights of 150 clerical employees. Settled by arbitration after 87 days, the 1937 hotel strike established the Hotel & Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union as a major player in the San Francisco labor movement and represented the beginning of many culinary officials' labor careers. After the five-year contract between the union and the Hotel Employers' Association expired in 1941, another major culinary strike was called over disputed contract terms. This strike was settled by the War Labor Board in 1942.

3 boxes and 14 audiocassettes (1.6 Linear feet)

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.

Collection is open for research, with the following exception: Picket line interviews restricted unless release indicated. Inquiries concerning these materials should be directed, in writing, to the Director of Research Collections, North Baker Research Library.