Inventory of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 70 Records, 1916-1980s (bulk 1937-1958)

Processed by Joshua Paddison; machine-readable finding aid created by James Lake

Labor Archives and Research Center

San Francisco State University

480 Winston Drive

San Francisco, California 94132

Phone: (415) 564-4010

Fax: (415) 564-3606

Email: larc@sfsu.edu

URL: http://www.library.sfsu.edu/special/larc.html

Inventory of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 70 Records, 1916-1980s (bulk 1937-1958)

Accession number: 1987/070, 1990/079, 1991/004, 1991/009, 1991/113

Labor Archives & Research Center

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, California

Contact Information:

Labor Archives & Research Center
San Francisco State University
480 Winston Drive
San Francisco, California 94132
Phone: (415) 564-4010
Fax: (415) 564-3606
Email: larc@sfsu.edu
URL: http://www.library.sfsu.edu/special/larc.html

Processed by:: Joshua Paddison
Date Completed:: Spring 1999
Encoded by:: James Lake

Descriptive Summary

Title: International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 70 Records,

Date (inclusive): 1916-1980s

Date (bulk): (bulk 1937-1958)

Accession number: 1987/070, 1990/079, 1991/004, 1991/009, 1991/113

Creator: International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 70

Extent: 4.0 cubic feet

Repository: San Francisco State University. Labor Archives & Research Center

San Francisco, California 94132

Shelf location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Center's online catalog.

Language: English.

Administrative Information

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives & 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 & 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.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 70 Records, 1987/070, 1990/079, 1991/004, 1991/009, 1991/113, Labor Archives & Research Center, San Francisco State University.

Introduction

These records were donated in three batches by International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 70, of Alameda County, California, in 1987, 1990, and 1991. The collection was processed in spring 1999 by Joshua Paddison.

History

International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 70, of Oakland, California, was chartered in 1901. In the first decade of the twentieth century, the East Bay lagged behind San Francisco in population (Oakland, Berkeley, and Alameda combined had less than 100,000 residents in 1900 while San Francisco boasted three-and-a-half times that) and organized labor activity. Many East Bay laborers commuted to San Francisco each morning or were scattered in small, hard-to-organize industries. Moreover, Oakland lacked San Francisco's tradition of union militancy and its cadre of experienced labor leaders. East Bay unions were typically smaller, less organized, and less likely to strike than their San Francisco counterparts. 1 This was true for Oakland-based Teamsters Local 70 when contrasted with its San Francisco counterpart, Local 85, which was charted in August 1900.

In 1901, Local 70 joined with Local 85 and other Bay Area Teamster locals in organizing a central organization called the Team Drivers Joint Executive Council. 2 After the 1906 earthquake and fire, Local 70--like most East Bay unions, especially in the building trades--saw a rise in membership as San Francisco companies transferred operations to the East Bay. 3 More work meant higher wages and more interest in unions. Also as a result of the fire, the Team Drivers Joint Executive Council was reorganized as San Francisco Bay Area Joint Council 7, with Local 70 as a member. 4

From 1920 to 1949, Local 70 was led by its dynamic and controversial secretary-treasurer, Charles W. Real (1888-1966). Born in San Francisco, Real was active in East Bay unionism and politics for virtually all of his adult life; he was a longtime member of the Oakland Civil Service Commission and chairman of the Alameda County Labor Committee for Earl Warren's gubernatorial campaign of 1942 and Thomas Dewey's presidential campaign of 1948. 5 Hot-tempered and ambitious, Real made as many enemies as allies; he was once indicted for a murder that occurred while he was attempting to organize local taxicab drivers, but was acquitted. 6

Real was a tireless promoter of Local 70's interests. Frustrated at Local 70's second-class status behind powerful Local 85 within Joint Council 7, in 1935 Real gave his support to a plan, opposed by Local 85, to organize Bay Area highway delivery drivers. As a result, Local 70 gained several hundred new members. 7 "There was always a battle goin' on between Local 70 and Local 85," remembered Teamster president Dave Beck, "because Charlie Real was tryin' to dominate the whole picture and he was always tryin' to beat Local 85 to the punch on contracts and everything else that happened." 8 Real remained a powerful figure in Bay Area Teamster activities until he was expelled from Local 70 for unknown reasons in 1949; executive board minutes indicate only that he was removed "for conduct unbecoming an officer of the Union." 9

In July 1934, Local 70 joined dozens of other unions up and down the Pacific coast in a sympathy strike after the events of "Bloody Thursday" in San Francisco. During the strike, Local 70 continued to help city and county officials supply food desperately needed to the East Bay. 10

In 1937, Local 70 joined approximately 150 other Teamster locals in eleven western states to form the Western Conference of Teamsters, led by Seattle Teamster Dave Beck. The creation of this multi-jurisdictional regional body, unprecedented in Teamster history, significantly shifted the balance of Teamster power westward; Beck himself rose to become president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 1952. 11

In April 1937, Beck placed Local 70 in trusteeship for one year after Oakland Teamsters refused to cross the picket lines of longshoremen led by Harry Bridges. The trusteeship suspended Local 70's right of self-rule, ousted several officers, canceled all regular union meetings, and placed an outside agent (appointed by Beck) in temporary control. Beck then ordered Local 70 to break Bridges's strike. However, more than 500 of Local 70's 2200 members met secretly to vow allegiance to the ousted officers and to promise to honor the longshoremen's picket lines. On May 2, Beck himself spoke at a mass meeting for Oakland Teamsters where he garnered their compliance in return for $1 per day wage increases. Local 70 thereafter ignored the Bridges's picket lines, sparking a long-standing rivalry between Bay Area Teamsters and longshoremen (soon part of a larger "holy war" between the A.F.L and the C.I.O.) 12

Local 70 initiated three lengthy strikes in the early 1960s. Seeking higher wages and better fringe benefits, Local 70 went on strike in July 1961 against members of the Lumber and Mill Employers' Association and four ready-mixed concrete companies. The dispute was resolved in late September. 13

Also in September 1961, Local 70 joined Teamsters Locals 896 (bottlers) and 278 (drivers) in a strike against several soft drink bottlers in San Francisco, Alameda, and San Mateo counties. In response, four soft drink companies purchased newspaper, radio, and newspaper advertisements to recruit strikebreakers in what the East Bay Labor Journal called the "most serious strikebreaking drive by employers in 25 years." 14 The strike ended in October when Oakland mayor John C. Houlihan stepped in and helped settle the dispute. 15

In November 1962, Local 70 initiated a wildcat strike against Consolidated Freightways after the company fired two Teamsters for refusing to unload a non-union trailer. The dispute, which lasted for almost a month, was particularly bitter; Consolidated Freightways fired all 126 of the striking union members and obtained a restraining order to stop their picketing. The dispute went before arbitrator Arthur M. Ross in December. "The ringleaders are dismissed while the followers are reinstated," he decided, reinstating (with unimpaired seniority but without back pay) the jobs of all but five of the striking Teamsters. 16 The Local 70 strike bulletin called the decision "full of discrepancies, inconsistencies, and sloppy thinking.... Nowhere in the annals of modern arbitration can such an unfair decision be found." 17

In May 1964, Teamster Local 291, representing construction, excavation, ready-mix, and lumber drivers, split from Local 70.

1Robert Edward Lee Knight, Industrial Relations in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1900-1918 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1960), 127-130.

2Donald Garnel, The Rise of Teamster Power in the West (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972), 49-50.

3Knight, 176-177.

4Robert M. Robinson, "A History of the Teamsters in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1850-1950" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of California at Berkeley, 1951), 181.

5Obituary, San Francisco Chronicle, November 3, 1966: 48.

6Garnel, 141.

7Garnel, 105-109.

8Garnel, 105.

9Executive board minutes, February 14, 1950: 2.

10 East Bay Labor Journal Official Labor Year Book, 1934: 23.

11Robinson, 298; Garnel, 200.

12Robinson, 315-320; Garnel, 142, 164, 166.

13 East Bay Labor Journal, August 18, 1961; October 6, 1961.

14 East Bay Labor Journal, September 29, 1961.

15 East Bay Labor Journal, October 13, 1961.

16Arthur M. Ross, arbitration decision, Consolidated Freightways v. Teamsters Local 70, 12.

17Teamsters Local 70 strike bulletin, December 17, 1962.

Scope and Content

The files of Teamsters Local 70 are divided into four series: Teamsters Local 70, Teamsters Local 515 (Oakland chauffeurs' union), International Brotherhood of Teamsters material, and non-Teamsters material.

The series "Local 70" comprises eleven subseries: minutes, monthly financial reports, office correspondence, membership information, election material, dispatchers' logs, contracts and agreements, print material, and Teamsters Local 70 v. Consolidated Freightways arbitration material.

The collection's contracts and agreements are divided by industry and arranged alphabetically. When an industry has required more than one folder, each folder title indicates the alphabetical span of companies contained within. For example:

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Oil Companies (Associated Oil - Johnson Oil) 1938-1949

This folder contains all of Local 70's contracts and agreements with oil companies that fall alphabetically between Associated Oil and Johnson Oil.

The folder's inclusive dates (1938-1949, in this case) indicate the beginning and ending dates of the contracts within. If, for example, a contract with Johnson Oil was agreed upon in 1938 and was in effect until 1949, 1938-1949 is the date listed (rather than simply 1938).

The majority of the material in the collection dates from 1937 to 1958. Many of the minutes, financial reports, and office correspondence in the collection came from the files of William J. "Big Bill" Conboy (1889-1964), Local 70's International Representative during the 1950s.

The earliest items in the collection are dispatcher's logs from 1916 to 1920. Other early material includes an "East Bay Drayage Tariff and Shopper's Guide" from 1924 and Teamsters Local 515 membership ledgers from 1925 to 1927.

The most recent items in the collection are election materials and contract and agreement booklets from the late 1980s.

Included in the collection are issues from 1963 to 1968 of Local 70's newsletter, Local 70 Te'mo, and issues from 1955 to 1969 of Northern California Teamster, along with several Teamsters conference proceedings from the 1940s. Also included is a transcript of the 1962 Local 70 v. Consolidated Freightways arbitration proceedings, arbitrator Arthur M. Ross's decision, supervisors' statements, and Local 70's strike bulletin.

Material Cataloged Separately

Photographs (twelve), relocated to LARC Photo Collection, "Subjects A-Z," under "Teamsters" and "Teamsters 1912-1915."
Buttons (approximately 100 from 1935 to 1980s), relocated to LARC button collection (one small box and one large envelope).
Election bumper stickers, relocated to LARC bumper sticker collection.
Print material relating to Jimmy Hoffa, relocated to LARC ephemera and poster files.

LOCAL 70

Box-folder 1/1

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1938

Box-folder 1/2

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1939

Box-folder 1/3

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1940

Box-folder 1/4

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1944

Box-folder 1/5

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1945

Box-folder 1/6

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1946

Box-folder 1/7

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1948

Box-folder 1/8

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1949

Box-folder 1/9

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1950

Box-folder 1/10

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1951

Box-folder 1/11

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1952

Box-folder 1/12

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1953

Box-folder 1/13

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1954

Box-folder 1/14

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1955

Box-folder 1/15

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1956

Box-folder 1/16

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1957

Box-folder 1/17

Local 70 Executive Board Minutes 1958

Box-folder 1/18

Local 70 General Meeting Minutes 1939

Box-folder 1/19

Local 70 General Meeting Minutes 1940

Box-folder 1/20

Local 70 General Meeting Minutes 1941

Box-folder 1/21

Local 70 General Meeting Minutes 1942-1943

Box-folder 1/22

Local 70 General Meeting Minutes 1946

Box-folder 1/23

Local 70 General Meeting Minutes 1947

Box-folder 1/24

Local 70 General Meeting Minutes 1950-1954

Box-folder 1/25

Local 70 General Meeting Minutes 1955

Box-folder 1/26

Local 70 General Meeting Minutes 1956

Box-folder 1/27

Local 70 General Meeting Minutes 1957-1958

Box-folder 1/28

Local 70 Monthly Financial Reports 1951-1956

Box-folder 1/29

Local 70 Office Correspondence 1950

Box-folder 1/30

Local 70 Office Correspondence 1951

Box-folder 1/31

Local 70 Office Correspondence 1952

Box-folder 1/32

Local 70 Office Correspondence 1953

Box-folder 1/33

Local 70 Office Correspondence 1954

Box-folder 1/34

Local 70 Office Correspondence 1955-1956

Box-folder 1/35

Local 70 Office Correspondence 1967

Box-folder 1/36

Local 70 Membership Information (Rules and Regulations) 1923-1973

Box-folder 1/37

Local 70 Membership Information (Sick Benefits) 1955-1965

Box-folder 1/38

Local 70 Election Material 1950s-1980s

Box-folder 1/39

Local 70 Dispatcher's Log (Bound) 1916-1918

Box-folder 1/40

Local 70 Dispatcher's Log (Bound) 1918-1920

Box-folder 1/41

Local 70 Dispatcher's Log 1930

Box-folder 2/1

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Beverage (Abe Cohn Wine Co. - Bonnie Maid) 1936-1953

Box-folder 2/2

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Beverage (Bonora Wine - Chesley & O'Connell) 1941-1953

Box-folder 2/3

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Beverage (Coca-Cola) 1936-1953

Box-folder 2/4

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Beverage (Consumers Ice Co. - Miller Dist.) 1935-1953

Box-folder 2/5

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Beverage (Miramonte Wineries - Water Company) 1937-1949

Box-folder 2/6

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Building Material Dealers (Aarvaks - East Bay Association) 1935-1946

Box-folder 2/7

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Building Material Dealers (East Bay Association - F.C. Stolte) 1937-1952

Box-folder 2/8

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Butchers 1937-1952

Box-folder 2/9

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Chain Stores (Multiple Employers) 1937-1951

Box-folder 2/10

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Chain Stores (Hagstrom - Safeway) 1934-1952

Box-folder 2/11

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Chauffeurs (Alexander Brothers) 1937-1938

Box-folder 2/12

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Coal Dealers 1937-1948

Box-folder 2/13

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Construction 1937-1951

Box-folder 2/14

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Contractors 1936-1952

Box-folder 2/15

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Draymen's Association 1932-1952

Box-folder 2/16

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--House Movers (D. J. Suell) 1937-1938

Box-folder 2/17

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Multiple Employer 1940-1943

Box-folder 2/18

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Newspapers Publishers 1936-1946

Box-folder 2/19

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Oil Companies (Associated Oil - Johnson Oil) 1938-1949

Box-folder 2/20

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Oil Companies (MacMillan Sales - The Texas Company) 1945-1949

Box-folder 3/1

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Oil Companies Correspondence (General Petroleum) 1952-1954

Box-folder 3/2

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Oil Companies Correspondence (Hancock Oil) 1951-1953

Box-folder 3/3

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Oil Companies Correspondence (MacMillan Sales) 1951

Box-folder 3/4

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Oil Companies Correspondence (Multiple Employer) 1951-1953

Box-folder 3/5

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Oil Companies Correspondence (Richfield Oil) 1951-1953

Box-folder 3/6

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Oil Companies Correspondence (Signal Oil) 1952-1953

Box-folder 3/7

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Oil Companies Correspondence (The Texas Company) 1951-1954

Box-folder 3/8

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Oil Companies Correspondence (Tide Water Associated Oil) 1952-1955

Box-folder 3/9

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Plumbing and Heating 1940-1952

Box-folder 3/10

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Poultry Producers 1940-1950

Box-folder 3/11

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Produce Merchants 1935-1953

Box-folder 3/12

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Shipyards 1941-1949

Box-folder 3/13

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Soap and Tallow Companies 1940-1948

Box-folder 3/14

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Steel Warehouse Distributors 1940-1949

Box-folder 3/15

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Trucking Companies 1937-1940

Box-folder 3/16

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--No Trade Designated (M. Cuetich) 1936-1937

Box-folder 3/17

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (Associated General Contractors) 1948-1951

Box-folder 3/18

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (Local Pickup Supplement) 1982-1985

Box-folder 3/19

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (Local 70 with other Teamster Locals) 1970-1979

Box-folder 3/20

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (Lucky Stores) 1975-1984

Box-folder 3/21

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (Master Agreement) 1970-1973

Box-folder 3/22

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (National Freight Supplement) 1964-1967

Box-folder 3/23

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (Oakland Scavenger Company) 1976-1985

Box-folder 3/24

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (Oakland Wholesale Fruit) 1951-1968

Box-folder 3/25

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (Oil Companies) 1946-1959

Box-folder 3/26

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (Pacific Coast Meat Jobbers) 1955-1959

Box-folder 3/27

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (Wholesale Butchers) 1947-1948

Box-folder 3/28

Local 70 Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (Various Companies) 1948-1978

Box-folder 3/29

Local 70 Print Material (Local 70 Newsletter Te'mo) 1963-1968

Box-folder 3/30

Local 70 Print Material ( Northern California Teamster) 1955-1969

Box-folder 3/31

Local 70 Print Material ("East Bay Drayage Tariff & Shopper's Guide") 1924

Box-folder 3/32

Local 70 Print Material ( Oakland Tribune insert, "Drayage Service") 1926

Box-folder 3/33

Local 70 Print Material (Locals 70/291 Split, East Bay Labor Journal) 1964

Box-folder 3/34

Local 70 Print Material--Teamsters Convention Proceedings (International Brotherhood of Teamsters) 1940

Box-folder 3/35

Local 70 Print Material--Teamsters Convention Proceedings (Western Conference of Teamsters) 1941-1942

Box-folder 3/36

Local 70 Print Material--Teamster Convention Proceedings (Western Conference of Teamsters) 1943-1946

Box-folder 3/37

Local 70 Print Material--Teamster Convention Proceedings (Western Conference of Teamsters) 1947-1949

Box-folder 3/38

Local 70 Print Material--Teamster Convention Proceedings (National Misc. Conference of Teamsters) 1950

Box-folder 4/1

Local 70 Consolidated Freightways Strike (Arbitration Proceedings, vol. 1) 1962

Box-folder 4/2

Local 70 Consolidated Freightways Strike (Arbitration Proceedings, vol. 2) 1962

Box-folder 4/3

Local 70 Consolidated Freightways Strike (Arbitration Decision) 1962

Box-folder 4/4

Local 70 Consolidated Freightways Strike (Supervisor Statements) 1962

Box-folder 4/5

Local 70 Consolidated Freightways Strike (Local 70 Strike Bulletin) 1962

LOCAL 515

Box-folder 4/6

Local 515 Membership Ledger 1925-1926

Box-folder 4/7

Local 515 Membership Ledger 1927

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS (IBT)

Box-folder 5/1

IBT Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (Joint Council 7) 1970-1991

Box-folder 5/2

IBT Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (Western States Area) 1949-1991

Box-folder 5/3

IBT Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (National Master Agreements) 1958-1991

Box-folder 5/4

IBT Contracts and Agreements--Booklets (Teamsters Locals) 1941-1985

Box-folder 5/5

IBT Constitutions 1957-1961

Box-folder 5/6

IBT Health and Welfare Plans 1975-1979

NON-TEAMSTERS MATERIAL

Box-folder 5/7

Non-Teamsters Convention Proceedings 1948-1950