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Title: SEIU Executive Office Files: William McFetridge Collection Dates: 1936-1963 (predominantly 1955-1960) |
Ø Subjects Ø Containers [Large file] Ø Index [Large file] |
HEFA.01e.update
Scope & Contents
The Papers of SEIU President William McFetridge were placed in the Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs in 1993 by SEIU and were opened for research in March of 1997.
A nephew of William F. Quesse, SEIU's founder and first International President, William McFetridge began his career with SEIU in 1923 as a member of Chicago's Flat Janitors Local 1. In 1927 he assumed the position of SEIU Third Vice President and then ascended to the position of SEIU 1st Vice President in 1930, a position he maintained until April of 1940, when he became President of the International. He succeeded George Scalise, whose fall from power resulted from improper union activities and a conviction on embezzlement and forgery charges.
Responding to the state of disorganization that existed in the union under Scalise, McFetridge began a program of modernizing the union's financial and record-keeping procedures, thereby inhibiting others within the union from engaging in illegal or unethical practices. McFetridge's modernization plan entailed the creation of a research department, the establishment of a legislative affairs department, the hiring of labor attorneys, and the publication of various SEIU periodicals, all of which resulted in the acquisition and dissemination of information that permitted the union to form alliances within and outside the labor movement, keep track of opposing forces, increase its understanding of local union concerns, and better position itself for negotiations.
A testament to his emerging stature within the labor movement, the federal government chose McFetridge as a consultant to an International Labor Organization conference in Switzerland in 1949 and, in 1950, he was elected to a seat on the AFL executive council. Needless to say, McFetridge's ascendancy benefited the union as a whole.
Under his presidency, McFetridge expanded organizing campaigns beyond the traditional building service workers and pursued members from service industries associated with airports, greenhouses, atomic plants, hospitals, bowling alleys, nurseries, cemeteries, nonacademic professions within schools, and many others. SEIU did not grow without great sacrifice during the McFetridge years. Like other unions, SEIU suffered from the ill-effects of the Taft-Hartley Act and many locals went out on strike for wages, working conditions, hours, and other demands. And yet, during McFetridge's 20 year tenure as president ending in 1960, SEIU grew from 70,000 to 275,000.
Following his departure from the presidency of the International, McFetridge became the President of Chicago's Local 1. In this capacity, he waged a heated jurisdictional dispute with Local 4, which was led by McFetridge's one time International Secretary-Treasurer, George Fairchild, and came into conflict with the new SEIU President, David Sullivan, regarding a Chicago real estate project. McFetridge left the union shortly thereafter, as he had lost both fights and, as a result, fell into disfavor with the union's top leadership. The records comprising this collection chronicle McFetridge's last years as President of SEIU. Records reflecting the bulk of his first fifteen years are maintained on microfilm at the Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs. The Audio-Visual Department for the Archives retains a small amount of photos related to SEIU during this period, although most SEIU related photos and other audio visual material have been retained by the International. For more information on William McFetridge, please consult A Need for Valor: The roots of the Service Employees International Union, 1902-1992.
The following is a listing of important subjects; the index at the end of the guide directs researchers to the folders where records of these and other subjects are located.
American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees
Audits of local unions
Contract Negotiations
Death Gratuity Claims
Factional disputes
Financial Reports/Statements
Grievances
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Jurisdictional disputes
Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act
Mergers
National Labor Relations Board
Organizational campaigns
Picketing
Raids
Right to Work
Strikes
Taft-Hartley
Trusteeships
Unfair Labor Practice Complaints/Charges
The following is a listing of important correspondents represented by at least five letters; the index at the end of the guide directs researchers to the folders where letters of these and other correspondents are located.
Burke, Thomas
Carey, James
Cordtz, Richard
Daley, Richard
Fairchild, George
Hardy, George
Harrison, George
Hearn, Albert
Levey, Charles
Meany, George
Ottley, Peter
Schnitzler, William
Shortman, Thomas
Sullivan, David
Zander, Arnold
A minimal amount of material is located in the audio-visual division of the Reuther Library
Series I, Executive Office Local Union Files, 1936-1960, Boxes 1-15: To Series
Correspondence and other material between the Executive Office of SEIU and local unions. This series is arranged numerically in local union order.
Series II, Executive Office Officer Files, 1951-1962, Boxes 15-16: To Series
Largely comprised of activity reports that chronicle the day-to-day activities of the union's officers, although a fair share of correspondence is also located within this series. This series is arranged alphabetically by the last name of the officer.
Series III, Executive Office International Representatives and Organizers Files,
1951-1961, Boxes 16-20: To Series
Activity reports chronicling the day-to-day activities of International Representatives and Organizers largely comprise this series, although a sprinkling of correspondence, clippings, and other material is also located in this series. This series is arranged alphabetically by the last name of the organizer or representative.
Series IV, Executive Office General Files, 1947-1963, Boxes 20-23: To Series
Arranged in alphabetical order according to subjects and personal names.