BOISE CITY TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION NO. 271
Records, 1890-1991
Boise City was scarcely a year old, and not yet the territorial capital, when, in July 1864, James S. Reynolds established the city’s first newspaper, the Idaho Tri-weekly Statesman. Reynolds was a job printer as well as a newspaper publisher. In the Statesman’s first issue he advertised “job printing of every description,” offering cards and bill heads, checks, drafts, receipts, posters and programmes for theater, concerts, exhibitions, way-bills, bills of fare, letter heads, receipt books, bills of lading, briefs and pamphlets, visiting, wedding, and “at home” cards, druggist labels, “in short, everything that can be done in a book and job printing office, from the smallest and most delicate card and circular to the largest size and most showy Posting Bill—and which will be turned out in a style that cannot fail to insure entire satisfaction.” Reynolds, who came from Maine, reportedly had been en route to Idaho City with two printers and a printing press when the Boise City fathers convinced him to stop and stay in Boise. Reynolds thus became the first printer in the soon-to-be territorial capital.
By the time Idaho achieved statehood twenty-six years later, there were three daily newspapers in Boise, at least two other printing shops, and enough individual members of the International Typographical Union working in the city to form the nucleus of a union local. They applied to the ITU for a charter, which was granted in November 1890. There were eleven charter members. “Some were residents, but the majority probably were members of that race of ‘Vanished Americans’ now kindly remembered as ‘Tramp Printers,” recalled James Lewis in the local’s 70th anniversary booklet. Indeed, Lewis could only find that only three of the eleven charter members stayed in Boise for very long. The eleven charter members were soon joined by seven initiates at its first meeting in December. The union’s first known contract, dated February 1892, is recorded in its first minute book. Its signatories (the proprietors of the Idaho Statesman, Idaho State Journal, and job printers) bound themselves “to the employment only of persons eligible to membership in said Boise City Typographical Union No. 271.” According to Lewis’s 70th anniversary history, the 1892 contract was “the first agreement between a chartered labor union and an employer in the State of Idaho.”
The International Typographical Union had a long history even before its local was chartered in Boise. Founded in 1852 as the National Typographical Union (it changed its name to International when Canadian locals were chartered), it was formally organized only after decades of communication and cooperation between printers’ associations in Eastern and Midwestern cities. Individual members were drawn from large printing establishments, one-man shops, and itinerants (“tramp printers”) who moved around the country working for newspapers and print shops for short periods of time before moving on. Originally the union included members from all areas of the printing industry, but gradually during the 19th century, members from specialized crafts such as pressmen, bookbinders, and photo engravers withdrew and formed their own international unions, often with the assistance of the ITU.
The early minutes of the Boise City Typographical Union reveal its concerns and customs. Members used white and black balls to vote on applications for membership. It was not unheard of for Calvin Cobb, the publisher of the Statesman, to appear personally at union meetings to make wage scale proposals. Union members were not immune to the anti-Chinese sentiments that were so prevalent in the West at that time; a resolution was adopted in February 1893 levying a fine of five dollars on any member “who shall have washing done at a Chinese wash house, or any member who shall be caught eating…at a Chinese restaurant or other place where Chinese are employed….” In May of 1899 the union voted to forgive the dues for two members serving in the U.S. Army; at the same meeting it agreed to a request from the Central Labor Union of the District of Columbia to petition President McKinley to remove the director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
The union contributed to local charitable causes and, according to Lewis' history, had already negotiated a nine-hour day, six-day week before the international union made it the standard in 1899. The Boise union then became one of the first locals to negotiate an 8-hour day in 1904. In 1900 the membership agreed to a special assessment for the aid of striking workers in Pittsburgh, but only “under protest” did it remove Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg (a printer and publisher whose younger brother Charles had been a charter member of No. 271) from its honorary membership. The International Typographical Union had asked the Boise local to revoke his membership because of his role in suppressing the miners’ strikes in the Coeur d’Alene district of north Idaho. The local union complied but reaffirmed “its belief that the said Hon. Frank Steunenberg is a friend of organized labor.” Steunenberg was assassinated five years later at his home in Caldwell, Idaho. The sensational trial of Western Federation of Miners leader Big Bill Haywood for instigating the murder brought Clarence Darrow to Boise for the defense and propelled prosecutor William E. Borah to national prominence. The Boise City Typographical Union adopted resolutions deploring Steunenberg’s assassination at its meeting in February 1906.
Printers, who set type, formed the core of the original union membership in Boise, but they were soon joined by mailers, i.e. newspaper employees who worked in the “mailroom” at tasks such as assembling papers, inserting supplements, bundling, and otherwise preparing them for distribution. In larger cities, mailers often formed locals of their own, but in Boise the two crafts were always part of No. 271. For much of the 20th century, the Boise City Typographical Union drew most of its membership from printers and mailers at Boise’s morning newspaper, the Idaho Statesman, its evening competitor, the Boise Capital News, and the Syms-York Company, though members were drawn from smaller printing establishments as well.
Within its first decade, the No. 271’s members were confronted by new technology and the necessity of job retraining. The linotype machine, invented to replace the setting of type by hand, revolutionized the printing process. Idaho Statesman publisher Calvin Cobb had asked the union to formulate a “machine scale” wage proposal as early as 1895, though there is no evidence a linotype was actually introduced at the newspaper until 1898. In December of that year, the union recommended to the publisher “that learners on the machines might practice on setting ‘bogus’ matter” in order to familiarize themselves with the new process.
Years later, the international union and the Boise local addressed the technological changes brought on by the introduction of computers, automation, and photocomposition to the printing process, but during the 1980s both local and international membership declined as the new processes required fewer employees trained and skilled in the craft. During the 1950s, 60s, and early 70s, the number of working members of No. 271 (excluding retirees) hovered near or slightly above 100. In November 1977 the number of working members in Boise (not counting members added from the recently defunct locals in Nampa and Twin Falls) was 69; in November 1986 there were 43. That same month the voters of Idaho passed a right-to-work initiative, making union membership voluntary in all places of employment, further weakening the union. On the national level, officers of the ITU explored merger opportunities with other unions, including the Teamsters. In 1987 the venerable old ITU was absorbed into the Communication Workers of America. At its June 1987 meeting No. 271 ceremonially took its 97-year old charter down from the wall and replaced it with a new charter from the CWA. The Boise City Typographical Union retained its identity as a separate local within the CWA for several years until its remaining members became part of Boise’s CWA local in the early 1990s.
-- Alan Virta, September 2010
Sources
- Lewis, Ray. Highlights of Seventy Years / [Boise City Typographical Union No. 271]. 1960. Within the collection in Box 1, Folder 1; also Spec. Coll. Z243.U6 I22 1960
- A Study of the History of the International Typographical Union, 1852-1963. Colorado Springs: International Typographical Union. 1964. Spec Coll Z120.I77A65
- Scott, Daniel T. Technological Change and Printing Industry Unions, 1958-1983. PhD. Diss, New School for Social Research. 1986. Dissertations & Theses (online database)
- Gill, Thomas E. Printing in Idaho: A Case Study of the Boise Typographical Union and its Wage Arbitration in 1920. Student paper, Boise State University. 1986. Within the collection in Box 1, Folder 4
- Minute books and other sources within the collection.
- Membership figures derived from Secretary’s monthly itemized reports (Boxes 18-20)
The Collection
The records in this collection document in great detail the 100-year history of the Boise City Typographical Union. At the heart of the collection are the minutes, which are nearly complete up through 1969, then somewhat sporadic after that. Also included are contracts the union negotiated with Boise area publishers and printing companies, correspondence of the local officers, records of arbitration and National Labor Relations Board cases in which the union was a party, and detailed financial records. Also included are two boxes of records of the Nampa Typographical Union No. 988, whose membership was absorbed into No. 271 in 1974 (Boxes 21 and 22), as well as two folders of miscellaneous papers of the Twin Falls Typographical Union, which also was absorbed into No. 271 (Box 23). There are also several folders of records from the Idaho-Utah Typographical Conference, a federation of ITU locals in the two states (also Box 23).
The International Typographical Union was proud of its reputation as one of the most democratic of trade unions, and its form of organization and procedural checks and balances are documented in the records of No. 271. The basic level of organization was the “chapel,” consisting of the workers in one particular shop. (There were two chapels at the Idaho Statesman, one for printers and the other for mailers.) Workers turned first to chapel officers with complaints or grievances against their employers or other union members. All of the union members in Boise were part of the local as a whole, and members who were dissatisfied with a chapel decision could appeal to the local. In turn, members dissatisfied with decisions of the local union could appeal to the executive council of the international union. Records of a number of such appeals are preserved in the collection (Box 11). Local unions negotiated directly with local employers over wage scale and other contract issues, but all negotiated contracts had to be submitted to the international for approval before taking effect.
During the 1980s the Boise City Typographical Union took several grievances against the Idaho Statesman (then published by the Gannett chain) to the National Labor Relations Board. Extensive documentation of those cases is found in Boxes 13 and 14. Records of arbitrations by the American Arbitration Association in the 1970s and 80s, and earlier cases arbitrated by local arbitration panels, are found in Box 12.
Portions of the collection that contain wage and pension information for individual members from the 20th century are closed to researchers, however arrangements can be made to extract statistical data from them. Aggregate statistics on membership and the finances can also be found in the Monthly financial statements and quarterly audits for the Boise (Box 20) and Nampa (Box 22) unions.
The collection also contains various publications of the International Typographical Union including its organizational manual, brochures on various topics, and a long run of the international newsletter, The Bulletin (Boxes 27-31).
Collection number: MSS 78
Inclusive dates: 1890-1991
Size of collection: ca. 15 ft.
(exclusive of international newsletters)
Preliminary processing: Thomas E. Gill, 1986
Further processing: Mary Carter and Kathy Peterson, 2001
Processing completed: Alan Virta, 2010
Series Arrangement
Series I: General Records and Correspondence
Series IV: Labor Issues, Grievances, Arbitration
Series VI: Nampa Typographical Union No. 988
Series VII: Other Idaho Labor Organizations
Series VIII: Memorabilia and Photos
Series IX: International Typographical Union
Series I: General Records and Correspondence
The General Records of the Boise City Typographical Union include the local’s 70th anniversary historical booklet (1960), constitutions from various dates, membership registers, and other miscellaneous records. (Statistical information about union membership is most easily found in Series V, Financial Records). The presidents’ diaries of Ken Campbell and Gordon Robins (Box 2, Folders 16 and 17) record their actions during a time of considerable turmoil within the local union in the mid-1980s and include references to the decision to donate the union’s 100-year archive to Boise State University. The officers’ general correspondence in Box 3 includes letters to and from individual members as well as correspondence with officials at the ITU’s headquarters on a variety of matters, including contracts, arbitrations, and NLRB cases. The closed correspondence in Box 4 involves the details of pensions of individual members.
Box 1: General Records
Folder 1 Constitution and By-Laws, 1952-1955, 1960-1966
Folder 2 70th anniversary historical booklet, 1960
Folder 3 Anniversary brochures, 1965, 1970, 1980
Folder 4 Historical clippings, studies, etc.
Folder 5 Membership register book, 1909-1919
Folder 6 Membership register book, 1919-1924
Folder 7 Membership record book, 1937-1957
Folder 8 Membership applications, 1937-1966
Folder 9 Membership applications, 1976-1982
Folder 10 Membership applications (Apprentice), 1954-1966
Folder 11 Membership records, Individual, 1964
Folder 12 Membership register numbers, 1967-1985
Folder 13 Membership reclassification forms, 1976
Box 2: General Records
Folder 1 Amnesty petition, 1974
Folder 2 Apprenticeship agreements, 1953-1976
Folder 3 Apprenticeship standards, 1973-1974
Folder 4 Attendance registers, 1940-1960
Folder 5 Attendance registers, 1952-1977
Folder 6 Benefits brochures, 1953, 1961
Folder 7 Bond certificates, 1958-1979
Folder 8 Delegates’ reports: ITU conventions, 1954, 1983
Folder 9 Delegates’ reports: Idaho-Utah Typographical Conference, 1963-1975
Folder 10 Delegates’ reports: Northwest Conference, 1975-1984
Folder 11 Delegates’ reports: Miscellaneous conferences, 1954-1988
Folder 12 Gannett personnel policies, 1973-1974
Folder 13 Gannett Typographical Association, 1974-1987
Folder 14 Insurance: Little League teams, 1967-1968
Folder 15 Legal fee statements, 1976, 1983-1987
Folder 16 President’s diary, Ken Campbell, 1985
Folder 17 President’s diary, Gordon Robins, 1985-1986
Folder 18 President’s notes, Fred Liebenau, 1982-1985
Folder 19 Proposed merger with Teamsters (Liebenau notes), 1983-1985
Folder 20 Proposed mergers: Issues, 1984
Folder 21 State printing sites in Boise, 1970
Folder 22 Taft-Hartley Act: Congressman George V. Hansen, 1965
Folder 23 Traveling card stub book, 1965-1966
Folder 24 Tuition bills, Links School of Business, 1970
Folder 25 Voting returns (local), ITU elections, 1968-1983
Folder 26 Voting returns, Local elections, 1978-1985
Folder 27 Wage scale agreements, 1935-1936
Folder 28 Miscellaneous; Unidentified
Box 3: Correspondence
Folder 1 Correspondence, 1937-1949
Folder 2 Correspondence, 1950-1959
Folder 3 Correspondence, 1960-1963
Folder 4 Correspondence, 1963-1969
Folder 5 Correspondence, 1970-1974
Folder 6 Correspondence, 1975-1976
Folder 7 Correspondence, 1977
Folder 8 Correspondence, 1978—1981
Folder 9 Correspondence, 1979-1986
Folder 10 Correspondence, undated
Box 4: Pension Correspondence: CLOSED FILES
Folder 1 Correspondence, Pensions, 1956-1969 CLOSED FILES
Folder 2 Correspondence, Pensions, 1970-1975 CLOSED FILES
Folder 3 Correspondence, Pensions, 1976-1991 CLOSED FILES
The minutes of the Boise City Typographical Union comprise the monthly chronicle of union activities. The local’s first constitution and bylaws can be found in Book 1, as well as its first contract (beginning on page133). The years 1915-1918 are missing from the early minutes. After 1969, the minutes become sporadic and incomplete, with several sizeable gaps.
Box 5: Minute books
Book 1: Minute book, 1890-1895
Book 2: Minute book, 1895-1906
Book 3: Minute book, 1907-1914
Book 4: Minute book, 1919-1921
Envelope: Loose papers from Books 2 and 3
Box 6: Minute books
Book 5: Minute book, 1921-1930
Book 6: Minute book, 1930-1940
Book 7: Minute book, 1941-1950
Envelope 1: Loose papers from Book 6
Envelope 2: Loose papers from back of Book 6
Envelope 3: Loose papers from Book 7
Envelope 4: Loose papers from Book 7
Box 7: Minute books
Book 8: Minute book, 1951-1969
Envelope: Loose papers from Book 8
Box 8: Minutes
Folder 1 Minutes, etc., 1974-1977
Folder 2 Minutes, etc., 1981-1988
Folder 3 Minutes, etc., 1983-1984
Folder 4 Minutes, etc., 1985-1987
Folder 5 Minutes, etc., 1988-1990
This series consists chiefly of printed copies of contracts negotiated by No. 271 with various employers going back to the 1950s. A number of them bear the original signatures of the principals involved, including Walter York (of Syms-York), James Brown (publisher of the Statesman), and union officials. Beginning in the 1970s, some files include notes about the bargaining, including minutes of negotiating meetings, memos, background documentation, and consultations with the international union. In some of the files from the 1980s, the actual contracts are not present. The first extant contract negotiated by No. 271, in February 1892, is found in its first minute book, beginning on page 132 (Box 5).
Box 9: Contracts
Folder 1 Capitol Lithograph and Printing Company, 1950-1975
Folder 2 Boise Employing Printers’ Association, 1956, 1967
Folder 3 Craftsman Press, 1950-1951
Folder 4 Idaho Free Press and News Tribume, 1975-1980
Folder 5 Idaho Press Tribune, 1981-1987
Folder 6 Idaho Printcrafters, 1950-1951
Folder 7 Job printers, 1953-1954
Folder 8 Job printers, 1964-1972
Folder 9 Job printers, 1972-1975
Folder 10 Job printers, 1975-1978
Folder 11 Journal Publishing Company, 1954-1958
Folder 12 Mountain States Press, 1950-1967
Folder 13 Mountain States Press, 197l2-1975
Folder 14 Pioneer Publishing, 1950-1951
Folder 15 Pronto Press, 1985-1986
Folder 16 Syms-York Company, 1950-1951
Folder 17 Syms-York Company, 1952-1953
Folder 18 Syms-York Company, 1956-1958
Folder 19 Syms-York Company, 1960-1962
Folder 20 Syms-York Company, 1967-1969
Folder 21 Idaho Statesman: Mailers agreement, 1950-1951
Folder 22 Idaho Statesman: Typographical agreement, 1950-1951
Folder 23 Idaho Statesman: Printers contract, 1952
Folder 24 Idaho Statesman: Printers: Negotiations, 1952
Folder 25 Idaho Statesman: Mailers contract, 1952-1953
Folder 26 Idaho Statesman: Printers contract, 1953-1954
Folder 27 Idaho Statesman: Printers and mailers contracts, 1955-1957
Folder 28 Idaho Statesman: Mailers contract, 1957-1959
Folder 29 Idaho Statesman: Printers contract, 1957-1959
Folder 30 Idaho Statesman: Newspaper contract, 1959-1961
Folder 31 Idaho Statesman: Newspaper contract, 1962-1963
Folder 32 Idaho Statesman: Newspaper contract, 1963-1964
Folder 33 Idaho Statesman: Negotiations, 1964-1966
Folder 34 Idaho Statesman: Newspaper contract, 1966-1968
Folder 35 Idaho Statesman: Newspaper contract, 1968-1971
Folder 36 Idaho Statesman: Stereotypers contract, 1968-1971
Folder 37 Idaho Statesman: Newspaper contract, 1971-1974
Folder 38 Idaho Statesman: Newspaper contract, 1974-1977
Folder 39 Idaho Statesman: Negotiations, meeting notes, 1974-1975
Folder 40 Idaho Statesman: Newspaper contract, 1977-1980
Folder 41 Idaho Statesman: Letter on mailroom inserting, 1978
Box 10: Contracts
Folder 1 Idaho Statesman: Mailroom supplemental agreement, 1980
Folder 2 Idaho Statesman: Contract papers, 1981-1984
Folder 3 Idaho Statesman: Negotiations, 1981-1984
Folder 4 Idaho Statesman: Negotiations, Composing room, 1982-1983
Folder 5 Idaho Statesman: Negotiations, Composing room, 1982-1983
Folder 6 Idaho Statesman: Contract papers, 1984-1987
Folder 7 Idaho Statesman: Negotiations, 1984-1985
Folder 8 Idaho Statesman: Negotiations, 1984-1985
Folder 9 Idaho Statesman: Negotiating minutes, 1984-1985
Folder 10 Idaho Statesman: Negotiating minutes, 1985
Folder 11 Idaho Statesman: Pressmens contract, 1986-1989
Folder 12 Idaho Statesman: Letter on composing room, 1988
Folder 13 Idaho Statesman: Negotiations, Proposals, 1988
Folder 14 Idaho Statesman: Negotiations, 1988-1989
Folder 15 Idaho Statesman: Negotiations, 1988-1989
Series IV: Labor Issues, Grievances, Arbitration
This series consists of files that document a variety of labor-management issues involving No. 271, as well as internal disagreements within the Boise City Typographical Union itself. The records cover labor-management disputes that were resolved by regional arbiters or by the American Arbitration Association; charges of unfair labor practices filed with the National Labor Relations Board; disagreements with the Idaho Statesman that were negotiated at the local level; and appeals of decisions of No. 271 filed by individual members with the international union’s executive council regarding internal union issues. Many of the files contain copious amounts of paperwork, including notes regarding the cases by local union officials.
Many of the issues involving the Idaho Statesman mailroom in the mid-1980s (Box 11) carry over into the three consolidated NLRB cases documented in Box 12, Folders 7-14, and revolve around the status and work conditions of mailroom employees (journeymen, apprentices, and non-union workers). The earliest NLRB case represented (1934-1935) involves Caxton Printers, of Caldwell, Idaho, when eight fired employees from the mechanical department complained to the National Labor Board (predecessor of the NLRB) that they were discharged for joining No. 271 and trying to initiate collective bargaining (Box 13, Folders 1-3). The most heavily documented NLRB case (Box 14) involves the firing of former BCTU president Harold F. “Fred” Liebenau by the Idaho Statesman. That case also went to federal court, and court papers are included in those files. The union’s general correspondence files (Box 3), its minutes (Box 8), and President’s diaries (Box 1) also contain information about these NLRB cases.
A research paper on the 1920 wage arbitration for the Boise City Typographical Union and Boise printing firms, written by Thomas Gill, a Boise State University graduate student, in 1986, is found in the collection in Box 1, Folder 4 (Historical clippings, studies, etc.)
Box 11: Labor Issues
Folder 1 Idaho Statesman, 1968-1977
Folder 2 Idaho Statesman composing room, 1987-1988
Folder 3 Idaho Statesman mail room, 1981-1983
Folder 4 Idaho Statesman mail room, 1981-1984
Folder 5 Idaho Statesman mail room, 1982-1987
Folder 6 Idaho Statesman mail room, 1983-1985
Folder 7 Idaho Statesman mail room, 1983-1985
Folder 8 Idaho Statesman mail room, 1986
Folder 9 Idaho Statesman mail room, 1984-1988
Folder 10 Idaho Statesman mail room: Chapel laws, 1992
Folder 11 Idaho Statesman: Joint Standing Committee, 1974-1977
Folder 12 Idaho Statesman: Joint Standing Committee, 1980-1981
Folder 13 Idaho Statesman: Safety Committee, 1986
Folder 14 Idaho Statesman: Wackenhut security reports, 1983
Folder 15 Darwin H. Peterson overtime, 1977
Folder 16 Darwin H. Peterson membership, 1983-1985
Folder 17 Withdrawal requests, 1985-1987
Folder 18 Personnel issues: Ken Campbell, 1983 CLOSED FILE
Folder 19 Personnel issues: Ken Campbell, 1983-1984 CLOSED FILE
Folder 20 Personnel issues: Various, 1983-1988 CLOSED FILE
Box 11: Appeals to the ITU Executive Council
Folder 21 H.O. Johnson vs. BCTU, 1937
Folder 22 Ray N. Castle vs. BCTU, 1938-1939
Folder 23 George E. Tompkins vs.BCTU, 1944
Folder 24 Hawley et al vs. BCTU, 1955
Folder 25 Various appeals, 1956-1962
Folder 26 Terence L. Thompson vs. BCTU1964
Folder 27 Helen M. Rich vs. BCTU, 1966
Folder 28 Stephen E. Pryor vs. BCTU, 1972
Folder 29 David Akers vs. BCTU, 1974
Folder 30 Michael J. Sattler vs. BCTU, 1975
Folder 31 BCTU vs. Dean R. Montgomery, 1978
Folder 32 Dean R. Montgomery vs. BCTU, 1978-1979
Folder 33 Gerald Copeland vs. BCTU, 1981-1982
Box 12: Arbitration
Folder 1 Idaho Statesman, 1919
Folder 2 Capital News, Syms-York, Al Kennard Press, Strawn & Company, 1920
Folder 3 Idaho Statesman, 1920
Folder 4 Arbitration cases, 1969
Folder 5 Arbitration cases, 1973
Folder 6 American Arbitration Association, Case 75 30 0162 77 (1977-1978)
Folder 7 American Arbitration Association, Case 75 30 0175 80 (1980)
Folder 8 American Arbitration Association, Case 75 30 0069 82 (1982)
Folder 9 American Arbitration Association, Case 74 30 0122 83 (1983)
Folder 10 American Arbitration Association, Case 75 30 0152 83 (1980-1984)
Folder 11 American Arbitration Association, Case 75 30 0152 83 (1983-1984)
Folder 12 American Arbitration Association, Case 75 30 0152 83 (1984-1985)
Folder 13 American Arbitration Association, Case 75 30 0152 83 (1984)
Folder 14 American Arbitration Association, Case 75 30 0164 83 (1983-1986)
Folder 15 American Arbitration Association, Case 75 300 0162 84 (1984)
Folder 16 American Arbitration Association, Case 75 300 0042 85 (1985)
Folder 17 American Arbitration Association, Case 75 300 0042 85 (1985)
Folder 18 American Arbitration Association, Case 75 300 0068 85 (1985)
Box 13: NLRB Cases
Folder 1 Caxton Printers, 1934-1935
Folder 2 Caxton Printers, 1934-1935
Folder 3 Caxton Printers, 1934-1935
Folder 4 NLRB Case 19-CA-5636: Paris and Van Fossen vs. Syms-York, 1972
Folder 5 NLRB Case 19-CA-10091: BCTU vs. Syms-York, 1977-1979
Folder 6 NLRB Case 19-CA-13745: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1980-1981
Folder 7 NLRB Cases 19-CA-17281, 17300, 17942: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1985
Folder 8 NLRB Cases 19-CA-17281, 17300, 17942: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1985
Folder 9 NLRB Cases 19-CA-17281, 17300, 17942: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1985-1987
Folder 10 NLRB Cases 19-CA-17281, 17300, 17942: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1986
Folder 11 NLRB Cases 19-CA-17281, 17300, 17942: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1986
Folder 12 NLRB Cases 19-CA-17281, 17300, 17942: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1987
Folder 13 NLRB Cases 19-CA-17281, 17300, 17942: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1988
Folder 14 NLRB Cases 19-CA-17281, 17300, 17942: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1988
Box 14: NLRB Cases (Fred Liebenau discharge)
Folder 1 NLRB Case 19-CA-18150: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1985
Folder 2 NLRB Case 19-CA-18150: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1986
Folder 3 NLRB Case 19-CA-18150: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1987
Folder 4 NLRB Case 19-CA-18150: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1986-1987
Folder 5 NLRB Case 19-CA-18150: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1986-1988
Folder 6 NLRB Case 19-CA-18150: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1987-1988
Folder 7 NLRB Case 19-CA-18150: BCTU vs. Idaho Statesman, 1987-1988
With the exception of the Labor Organization Financial Reports in Box 20 (submitted annually to the U.S. Department of Labor), most of the financial records in this series are retained copies of financial reports submitted by No. 271 to the International Typographical Union headquarters. They generally include membership figures as well as financial statistics. The Secretary’s Monthly Itemized Reports in Boxes 17-19 are essentially individual payroll reports for all the members of the local, so they are not open for research at the present; however researchers may arrange to extract statistical data from them. The Monthly Financial Reports and Quarterly Audits in Box 20, sent to the ITU, summarize the general financial and membership situation of No. 271, and they are open for research. However, the Quarterly Audit membership figures lump members and retirees together; only the Secretary’s Monthly Itemized Reports reveal the figures in each category.
Box 15 (Oversize box): Financial records
Book Monthly reports of receipts and expenditures, 1908-1913 (including wages)
Box 16: Financial records
Book Account book (1907-1912)
Book Account book (1907-1908)
Book Monthly reports of the financial secretary (1910-1913)
Book Monthly reports of the financial secretary (1914-1915)
Book Monthly reports of the financial secretary (1916-1919)
Book Monthly reports of the financial secretary (1920-1923)
Book Monthly stamp reports of the financial secretary (1923-1927)
Book Monthly stamp reports of the financial secretary (1927-1931)
Book Monthly stamp reports of the financial secretary (1934-1936)
Box 17: Financial records: CLOSED FILES
Folder 1 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1951-1952
Folder 2 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1953
Folder 3 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1954
Folder 4 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1955
Folder 5 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1956
Folder 6 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1957
Folder 7 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1958
Folder 8 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1959
Folder 9 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1960
Folder 10 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1961
Folder 11 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1962
Folder 12 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1963
Folder 13 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1964
Folder 14 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1965
Folder 15 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1966
Folder 16 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1967
Folder 17 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1968
Folder 18 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1969
Folder 19 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1970
Folder 20 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1971
Folder 21 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1972
Folder 22 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1973
Folder 23 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1974
Folder 24 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1975
Folder 25 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1976
Folder 26 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1977
Box 18: Financial Records CLOSED FILES
Folder 1 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1978
Folder 2 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1979
Folder 3 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1980
Folder 4 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1981
Folder 5 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1982
Folder 6 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1983
Folder 7 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1984
Folder 8 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1985
Box 19: Financial Records CLOSED FILES
Folder 1 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1986
Folder 2 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1987
Folder 3 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1988
Folder 4 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1990 Sept-Dec
Folder 5 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1991 Jan-Aug
Box 20: Financial Records
Folder 1 Labor organization financial reports (LM-2), 1960
Folder 2 Labor organization financial reports (LM-2), 1961
Folder 3 Labor organization financial reports (LM-2), 1962-1973
Folder 4 Labor organization financial reports (LM-2), 1974-1984
Folder 5 Monthly financial statements and quarterly audits, 1952-1955
Folder 6 Monthly financial statements and quarterly audits, 1956-1960
Folder 7 Monthly financial statements and quarterly audits, 1961-1965
Folder 8 Monthly financial statements and quarterly audits, 1966-1969
Folder 9 Monthly financial statements and quarterly audits, 1970-1973
Folder 10 Monthly financial statements and quarterly audits, 1974-1976
Folder 11 Monthly financial statements and quarterly audits, 1977-1980
Folder 12 Monthly financial statements and quarterly audits, 1981-1982
Folder 13 Monthly financial statements and quarterly audits, 1983-1985
Folder 14 Monthly financial statements and quarterly audits, 1986-1991
Series VI: Nampa Typographical Union No. 988
The Nampa Typographical Union in Nampa, Idaho, was a separate local of the International Typographical Union until 1974, when its membership voted to become part of the Boise City Typographical Union. These records were transferred to the Boise City Typographical Union when the two locals consolidated and were part of the original donation from the Boise local. All the records are open for research, with the exception of the Secretary’s Monthly Itemized Reports in Box 22, which are essentially payroll reports for the individual members.
Box 21: Nampa Typographical Union, Local No. 988
Folder 1 Constitution and bylaws, no dates
Folder 2 Conference book and meeting minutes, 1952-1972
Folder 3 Minutes, 1945
Folder 4 Minutes, 1946
Folder 5 Minutes, 1947
Folder 6 Minutes, 1948
Folder 7 Minutes, 1949
Folder 8 Minutes, 1950
Folder 9 Minutes, 1951
Folder 10 Minutes, 1952
Folder 11 Minutes, 1953
Folder 12 Minutes, 1954
Folder 13 Minutes, 1955
Folder 14 Minutes, 1956
Folder 15 Minutes, 1957
Folder 16 Minutes, 1958
Folder 17 Minutes, 1959
Folder 18 Minutes, 1960
Folder 19 Minutes, 1961
Folder 20 Minutes, 1962
Folder 21 Minutes, 1963
Folder 22 Minutes, 1964
Folder 23 Minutes, 1965
Folder 24 Minutes, 1966
Folder 25 Minutes, 1967
Folder 26 Minutes, 1968
Folder 27 Minutes, 1969
Folder 28 Minutes, 1970
Folder 29 Minutes, 1971
Folder 30 Minutes, 1972
Folder 31 Minutes, 1973
Folder 32 Minutes, 1974
Folder 33 Apprenticeship papers, 1963, 1973
Folder 34 Bank deposit book, 1942-1964
Folder 35 Contracts: Free Press and News Tribune, 1969
Folder 36 Correspondence, 1955-1974
Folder 37 ITU Apprenticeship regulations, 1969-1969
Folder 38 ITU Bureau of Education examinations, 1952-1954
Folder 39 ITU Executive Council appeals, 1956, 1970-1971
Folder 40 Labor organization annual reports (LM-3), 1963-1976
Folder 41 Membership applications, 1941-1974
Folder 42 Pension plan papers, 1974
Folder 43 Voting returns, 1946-1974
Box 22: Nampa Typographical Union Local No. 988
Folder 1 Monthly financial statements and quarterly audits, 1958-1963
Folder 2 Monthly financial statements and quarterly audits, 1964-1967
Folder 3 Monthly financial statements and quarterly audits, 1968-1970
Folder 4 Monthly financial statements and quarterly audits, 1971-1974
Folder 5 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1960-1964 CLOSED FILE
Folder 6 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1965-1970 CLOSED FILE
Folder 7 Secretary’s monthly itemized reports, 1971-1974 CLOSED FILE
Series VII: Other Idaho Labor Organizations
This series contains records of other labor organizations with which the Boise City Typographical Union was affiliated or associated in some way. All are Idaho organizations except the Coors Boycott Coalition (Folder 9). The Twin Falls Typographical Union No. 241, was, like the Nampa local, a separate local of the ITU until it merged with Boise. Its surviving records are few; mainly correspondence of Robert A. Johnson, its president in the 1970s. Johnson’s letters, located here and in No. 271’s correspondence files, reveal the plight of a small local working in an environment hostile to the union.
The Allied Printing Trades Council regulated the right to apply the union label by printers in Boise and southwestern Idaho.
The largest body of records in this series is that of the Idaho-Utah Typographical Conference, a federation of the ITU locals in the two states founded in 1951. Members of the Boise City and Nampa Typographical Unions held leadership roles in the organization. The minutes of its meetings (Folder 14) are detailed and extensive, and contain much information about the activities of ITU locals in the two states.
Box 23: Other Idaho Labor Organizations
Folder 1 Twin Falls Typographical Union: Constitutions, 1958, 1963-1964
Folder 2 Twin Falls Typographical Union: Correspondence, etc., 1968-1982
Folder 3 Allied Printing Trades Council: Constitutions
Folder 4 Allied Printing Trades Council: Registration of union label, 1940
Folder 5 Allied Printing Trades Council: Correspondence, 1962-1976
Folder 6 Allied Printing Trades Council: Licenses, 19551-981
Folder 7 Allied Printing Trades Council: Miscellaneous
Folder 8 Boise Commercial Printers, Joint Apprenticeship Committee: Certificates, 1953, 1982
Folder 9 Coors Boycott Coalition (2 items), 1977
Folder 10 Idaho State AFL-CIO: Merger agreement and merger constitution, 1957
Folder 11 Idaho State AFL-CIO: Constitution, etc., 1971
Folder 12 Intermountain Conference of Typographical Unions: Charter meeting minutes, 1951
Folder 13 Idaho-Utah Typographical Conference: Constitutions, 1957, 1965
Folder 14 Idaho-Utah Typographical Conference: Minutes, 1951-1976
Folder 15 Idaho-Utah Typographical Conference: Sec-Treasurer’s correspondence, 1952-1964
Folder 16 Idaho-Utah Typographical Conference: Sec-Treasurer’s correspondence, 1965-1977
Folder 17 Idaho-Utah Typographical Conference: Miscellaneous
Folder 18 Pocatello Typographical Union: Contract with Idaho State Journal, 1962
Folder 19 Other Idaho unions: Contracts, 1951-1957, 1974
Folder 20 Spokane Falls Typographical Union No. 193: Contract, 1929-1931
Series VIII: Memorabilia and Photos
This series contains three photos and other miscellaneous memorabilia from the Boise City Typographical Union No. 271 and Nampa Typographical Union No. 988.
Box 24: Memorabilia
Folder 1 Photos: 001 Frank Lakin at Intertype machine, 1965?
002 Conference officials, no date
003 BCTU cemetery headstone
Folder 2 Print: Tramp printer, by Steele
Folder 3 Bumper sticker, “I’m Proud to be a Union Member” from ITU
Folder 4 ITU diploma, Lessons in Printing, for Carol J. Aldrich, 1981
Folder 5 Letterman patches (2), Nampa Typographical Union
Folder 6 ITU membership certificate, 50 years, for William O. Lemon, 1973
Folder 7 Ribbons and badges, Idaho-Utah Typographical Conference
Folder 8 Ribbon and ticket, BCTU 70th anniversary, 1960
Folder 9 Union label stickers, ITU Women’s Auxiliary
Folder 10 Working card, R.L. Michaelson, 1965
Box 25: Memorabilia
Button, Idahoans Against Deception / Vote No on Referendum One [Right-to-work], 1986
Button, COPE-82, Idaho State AFL-CIO
Metal type pieces
Rubber stamps: Nampa Typographical Union No. 988
Twin Falls Typographical Union No. 241 (2)
Idaho-Utah Typographical Conference
Metal plate with image of Printers Home, Colorado Springs, 1940
Series IX: International Typographical Union
This series contains publications of the International Typographical Union and a few from the Communications Workers of America. Included are copies of the national ITU newsletter, The Bulletin from 1915-1979. Not all years are complete.
Box 26: International Typographical Union / Communications Workers of America
Folder 1 ITU: Historical booklet, 114 Years Plus of Democratic Trade Unionism, 1966
Folder 2 ITU: Brochures, Miscellaneous
Folder 3 ITU: Taft-Hartley Act publications, 1947-1949
Folder 4 ITU: Test questions
Folder 5 ITU: Campaign issue notebook (ITU presidency), 1965
Folder 6 ITU: Organizational Manual, 1978: Sections 1-3
Folder 7 ITU: Organizational Manual, 1978, Sections 4-6
Folder 8 ITU: Organizational catalog, 1980
Folder 9 ITU: Organizational materials, 1984
Folder 10 CWA: Merger guidelines for locals, 1987-1988
Folder 11 CWA: 50th Anniversary Action Program, 1988
Folder 12 CWA: Mobilization Manual, 1989
Folder 13 CWA: Uniform Operating Procedures Manual, 1988: Parts 1-10
Folder 14 CWA: Uniform Operating Procedures Manual, 1988: Parts 11-31
Boxes 27-31: International Typographical Union
The Bulletin, 1915-1979
Box 31: International Typographical Union
Miscellaneous publications and brochures
Box 32: International Typographical Union
Miscellaneous publications
Video (VHS): Communitcations Workers of America, “Don’t Bug Me” (1987)
Video (VHS): Labor Looks at the 1988 Presidential Candidates / Democracy at Work