International Union of Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers. Local 463 (New York, N.Y.)

Local 463 of the International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers was founded in 1951 by James Trenz, a business agent of Local 1227 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. Local 1227 was an amalgamated local, representing 37 shops and about 2300 workers.

After a bitterly contested local election in November 1950 between Communist and non-Communist UE leadership, Trenz led a protest of the Local's position on the United States' role in the Korean War. Trenz had formed a strong group who wanted a peace resolution which would condemn Communist China's invasion of Korea, while the Communist-controlled Executive Board pushed for an anti-U.S. government peace resolution. The issue was debated throughout the shops of the local. At the January 10 Stewards' Council meeting, a close vote was taken on these resolutions, in favor of the anti-Communist position. Rather than permit Trenz to bring the resolution to the membership for a vote, he was suspended as business agent at an emergency Executive Board meeting two hours before the mass local membership meeting of January 24, 1951, where both the resolution and Trenz's suspension were to be voted on by the membership. Physically barred from the local meeting hall, he and 500 supporters met for a protest rally at a nearby park that evening. They voted to disaffiliate from the UE and return to the mainstream of labor in the CIO. Trenz received bids for affiliation from the IUE, District 50 of the United Mineworkers, the United Auto Workers, and the Transport Workers' Union.

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