UAW Local 276, Grand Prairie, Texas.

The Arlington assembly plant for Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac had its beginnings with a groundbreaking ceremony on May 27, 1952. The first group of employees at the Arlington B-O-P assembly plant started working in November 1953 and one month later saw representatives of the International UAW at the gates handing out leaflets. The election for a union was made possible in February 1954, when the required number of union organization cards had been met. March 3 was the date of the election with a result of 804 in favor and only 21 against. A charter for Local 276 was granted on March 11, 1954. Four days later, workers at the Arlington GM plant came under the protection of the UAW-GM National Agreement.

The first election for executive officers was held on March 30, 1954, with a swearing in ceremony on April 6. A short time later, a slate of seven committeemen was elected and sworn in. The first president of Local 276 was Garland Ham, who is still known as the youngest person ever elected to that office in Local 276. During the same month of April, negotiations began for a local contract. This would be the first of many such negotiations, both local and international. A new national agreement was finalized in 1958, and 1963 saw the biggest package settlement yet.

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