Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers

West Coast rank-and-file members of the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers (AFL-CIO) became dissatisfied with the conduct of wage negotiations by international vice-presidents and those of another international union, the United Papermakers and Paperworkers, with whom a Uniform Labor Agreement had been negotiated. In addition to this dissatisfaction, there was also a feeling that the internationals failed to adequately understand and address local issues. In response they established a new union, the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Mill Workers, in 1964. Litigation followed, and the records document this. A NLRB election was conducted in October 1964, and the Western organization was certified as the Uniform Labor Agreement bargaining agent. The AWPPMW survived an attempt by the two internationals to regain their dominance in 1967. As many of the mills pulled out of the Uniform Labor Agreement after this, contracts were negotiaited at the mill level which allowed for a greater degree of dealing with local issues on a mill by mill basis.