PUBLIC "-//Library of Virginia//TEXT (US::Vi::vi00932::A Guide to the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry Strike Data Files, 1949-1952)//EN" "vi00932.xml" A Guide to the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry Strike Data Files, 1949-1952 Labor and Industry, Department of, Strike Data Files, 1949-1952 23847, 23921, 24107 Jessie R. Robinson Library of Virginia © 2006 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.

Conditions of Use

Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word, created by Jessie R. Robinson, 21 December 2005 Description is in English 2013-11-21 Converted to schema conforming EAD by dtd2schema.vh.xsl. A Guide to the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry Strike Data Files, 1949-1952 A Collection in the Library of Virginia 23847, 23921, 24107 Jessie R. Robinson

Library of Virginia 2006 Jessie R. Robinson Library of Virginia Descriptive Summary The Library of Virginia Virginia Department of Labor and Industry Strike Data Files, 1949-1952 23847, 23921, 24107 .9 cu. ft. (2 boxes) English Virginia Department of Labor and Industry Administrative Information Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Virginia Department of Labor and Industry Strike Data Files, 1949-1952. Accession 23847, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219

Acquisition Information

Transferred, Virginia Department of Labor and Industry, Richmond, Virginia, 8/11/1952.

Biographical/Historical Information

The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry was charged with ensuring compliance of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) or Wagner Act of 1935, the subsequent changes known as the Taft-Hartley amendments of 1947, and the subsequent legislation enacted by the Virginia General Assembly. The original NLRA established the National Labor Relations Board which was given the power to investigate charges of unfair labor practices, and also gave workers a forum within which to vote for union representation. The NLRA was passed after a series of violent strikes, with the hope that additional violence could be avoided by allowing workers to bargain collectively with new levels of protection, such as the legalized right to strike. Under the NLRA, employers could no longer fire an employee for participating in union activities.

The NLRA was unsuccessfully attacked by Congress many times until the passage of the Labor-Management Relations Act, or Taft-Hartley Act, in 1947. This legislation significantly altered United States labor laws. Most significantly, the amendments gave state governments the right to pass what are known as "right-to-work" laws. These laws could include requiring notification of intention to strike, and giving state officials the authority to intervene if a strike were to cause an emergency situation. In response to these amendments, the Virginia General Assembly passed two acts during its 1947 extra session. The first law, (Chapter 2 of the Acts of Assembly), proclaimed Virginia a "right-to-work" state within which unionization could not be required for receiving or retaining a job. The second law, (Chapter 9 of the Acts of Assembly), became known as the Virginia Public Utility Labor Relations Act. This law was created to prevent interruptions in the operation of certain public utilities resulting from labor disputes. Lockouts, strikes and work stoppages were outlawed because utilities served a public interest, and were essential to the health and safety of the citizens. This act also allowed the governor to take possession of any public utility threatened with a strike.

The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry was responsible for monitoring the state's overall labor situation. Commissioner of Labor Edmond M. Boggs served as a liaison between employers, unions, the Governor, and sometimes the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The Commissioner was called to duty if and when companies operating under a collective bargaining agreement or contract were in dispute about changes to the agreement. Each case directed to the Department of Labor and Industry was recorded on a Public Utility Labor Relations Docket and given a number. The Commissioner monitored each situation until a settlement was agreed upon, or he notified the Governor if talks broke down and state intervention was needed.

Scope and Content

Contains correspondence, dockets, notifications, arbitration agreements, and newspaper articles that document public utility labor disputes in Virginia resulting from changes to federal and state labor laws.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

Series I. Strike data files, 1949-1952 Contents List Series I. Strike data files, 1949-1952. 1-2 Extent: 27 folders.

Contains a variety of documents that reveal the Department of Labor and Industry's role in monitoring labor disagreements, union activities, and ensuring the smooth and uninterrupted operation of public utility companies in Virginia. Also included are files pertaining to non-public utility labor disputes from around the state. Although some files may contain material from more than one year, the cases are arranged according to the year during which the dispute was settled. Within each year, the docketed cases are arranged according to case number, but also include the names of the proponent and respondent for each case. If no case number is present, the file can be found behind those with numbers. The Public Utility Labor Relations Docket, if available, is placed at the front of each case folder. Correspondence, in reverse chronological order, is placed behind the docket(s). Any other miscellaneous paperwork is placed at the very back of each folder. Additional files not related to a particular case are filed at the end of the year in which they were created. Of these miscellaneous files, non-public utility dispute notifications are notable due to their volume. The strike data files are considered one series of records, even though the files came to the Library of Virginia in three separate accessions: 1949 (Accession 23847), 1950 (Accession 23921), and 1951-1952 (Acession 24107).

System Council, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Virginia Power and Electric Company, Case 63, 1949 1 1 System Council, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Virginia Power and Electric Company, Case 63, 1949 1 2 Appalachian Electric Power Company and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Case 64, 1949 1 3 International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, Local 432 and Roanoke Gas Company, Case 65, 1949 1 4 Celco Bus Line (Pearisburg) and United Construction Workers, Local 170, Case 67, 1949 1 5 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1307 and Eastern Shore Public Service Company of Virginia, Case 70, 1949 1 6 Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees, Division 1188 and Citizens Rapid Transit Company, Case 72, 1949 1 7 Tri-State Coach Corporation and United Construction Workers, Case 76, 1949 1 8 Yellow Cab strikes, case number unknown, 1949 1 9 Alexandria, Barcroft and Washington Transit Company and Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees, Division 1131, Case 47, 1950 1 10 Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees, Division 1079 and Washington, Virginia and Maryland Coach Company--Arnold Lines, 1950 1 11 Communication Workers of America, Division 33 and Clifton Forge-Waynesboro Telephone Company, Case 69, 1950 1 12 Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees, Divisions 1220, 1177, 1264 and Virginia Transit Company/Portsmouth Transit Company, Case 75, 1950 1 13 Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees, Division 1220 and Petersburg Transit Company, Case 78, 1950 1 14 Communications Workers of America, Division 36 and Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, Cases 79-80, 1950 1 15 International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers and Petersburg-Hopewell Gas Company, Case 81, 1950 1 16 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Locals 1181, 1337 and Virginia Telephone and Telegraph Company, Case 82, 1950 1 17 Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company and Communications Workers of America, Division 33, Case 83, 1950 1 18 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Locals 1182, 1376 and Appalachian Electric Power Company, Case 84, 1950 1 19 Roanoke Gas Company and International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, Case 85, 1950 1 20 Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees, Division 1098 and Richmond-Greyhound Lines, Inc., Case 86, 1950 1 21 Virginia Electric Power Company and System Council, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Case 87, 1950 1 22 International Association of Machinists, Lodge 11 and Norfolk Southern Bus Corporation, Case 88, 1950 1 23 Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees, Division 1188 and Citizens Rapid Transit, Case 89, 1950 1 24 Eastern Shore Public Service Company of Virginia and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1307, Case 90, 1950 1 25 Carolina Coach Company/Carolina Coach Company of Virginia and Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees, Division 1437, Case number unknown, 1950 1 26 Public utility strikes settled before second conference, 1950 1 27 United Construction Workers of America, Region 32 and Tri-State Coach Company, Case 92, 1951 2 1 Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees, Division 1220 and Petersburg Transit Company, Case 93, 1951 2 2 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Locas 1337, 1181 and Virginia Telephone and Telegraph Company, Case 94, 1951 2 3 Communications Workers of America, Division 33 and Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, Case 95, 1951 2 4 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Loca 1307 and Eastern Shore Public Service Company of Maryland, Case 96, 1951 2 5 Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees, Division 1188 and Citizens Rapid Transit Company, Case 97, 1951 2 6 United Marine Division of the Internation Longshoremen's Assoication and Virginia Ferry Corporation, Case 98, 1951 2 7 Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees, Division 1079 and Washington, Virginia and Maryland Coach Company, Case 99, 1951 2 8 International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers and Petersburg-Hopewell Gas Company, Case 100, 1951 2 9 United Gas, Coke and Chemical Workers of America and Roanoke Gas Company, Case 101, 1951 2 10 United Construction Workers, Local 380 and Tri-State Coach Corporation, Case 103, 1951 2 11 Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees, Division 1437 and Carolina Coach Company, Case 104, 1951 2 12 Public utility strikes not docketed, 1951 2 13 Public utility contracts, information on companies that signed contracts in 1950, 1951-1952 2 14 Disputes other than public utilities, miscellaneous negotiations, 1951 2 15 Notices of disputes, other than public utilities, January-May 1951 2 16 Notices of disputes, other than public utilities, June-October 1951 2 17 Notices of disputes, other than public utilities, November 1951-January 1952 2 18