The operators of the Telephone Traffic Union Upstate (TTUU), today part of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), have roots stretching back to the 1940s. The TTUU began in 1945 in Albany, New York as the Traffic Employees Association Upstate Area. Led by Marie McGoughan, the group members established themselves as proponents of better working conditions and wages for telephone operators. December 1949 brought about the first issue of the union's newsletter, Traffic Calls, and in 1950 the group voted to change its name to Telephone Traffic Union Upstate, New York. Before they were members of the CWA, the American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) operators of the TTUU were affiliated with the Telecommunications International Union (TIU). The TIU had an executive committee that oversaw the activities of its locals, but holes in their constitution led to difficulties in 1984 when the TIU decided that it wanted to consider joining forces with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) or the CWA. Ultimately the TTUU broke away from the TIU in order to join the CWA in the mid-1980s. They believed that the CWA would best protect their interests, and they put the new relationship to the test almost right away as automated switchboard systems began threatening the operators' jobs in the 1980s and 1990s. The breakup of AT&T into multiple, smaller companies in 1984 also endangered the operators' wages, benefits, and sometimes their very jobs, resulting in an increasing partnership between the phone operators and the CWA. In 2001, the operators division of the CWA merged with the Graduate Student Employees Union (GSEU) and the telecommunications workers to form the local 1104, which increased the bargaining strength of all three divisions.
From the description of Communications Workers of America, Operators Division, Local 1104 Records, 1949-2001. (University at Albany). WorldCat record id: 690596259
