On May 17, 1937, the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America (AFL) issued a charter to Canning and Pickle Workers Union Local 325, where a union organizing committee had recently been formed. Also in May 1937, the Union was victorious in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board, but the H.J. Heinz Company refused to sign a written contract, and from August 15, 1937 to January 6, 1941, employees of the company worked without one. Following a protracted legal battle, the company was ordered by the United States Supreme Court to sign an agreement with the Union reached through collective bargaining. The Supreme Court ruling established a paramount precedence for all collective bargaining agreements in the United States. In an immediate upshot locally, Westinghouse Electric Corporation was similarly obligated to sign an agreement with the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Local 601. A merger of unions in 1979 created the United Food and Commercial Workers and the name of the local was changed accordingly.
From the description of Records of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Local 325 (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 1931-1997. (University of Pittsburgh). WorldCat record id: 128288309
