In June 1935, workers dissatisfied with the Westinghouse company union sent a representative, Frank Gazdik, to a founding conference for a new Electrical and Radio Workers Union. Upon his return, a meeting of about thirty Westinghouse workers was held in Kidd's Hall in Turtle Creek, establishing "Westinghouse Local 1010 of the Electrical and Radio Workers Union." The demand for industry wide organization in the electrical industry led to the formation of another national electrical workers union, the United Electrical and Radio Workers of America. The East Pittsburgh Westinghouse local voted to affiliate with the new national union and their name was changed in April 1936 to "UE Local 601." In 1946, Local 601 workers were part of a nation-wide UE strike, which was also joined by steelworkers and autoworkers, which aimed to make up for earning power lost through war-time wage controls. Though the strikes were settled in the unions' favor, in 1947 the Congress turned against the labor movement, pushing through the restrictive and explicitly anti-communist Taft-Hartley Law. The UE and a number of other left-led unions were expelled from or seceded from the CIO. Within the UE, the right-wing forces eventually became the spokespersons for a new electrical workers union, the International Union of Electrical Workers (IUE). In Local 601, the UE leaders were denounced in the press and from the pulpit. Key officers were compelled to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee to answer questions. In two fiercely contested Labor Board elections in April-June 1950, IUE narrowly edged out the UE as the representative of the workers at the Westinghouse plant. The UE retained its organization in the plant and in 1952 challenged the IUE's control of the local in another Labor Board election, but the IUE again won.
From the description of Records of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Local 601, East Pittsburgh, Pa., 1947-1954. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 31251944
