The Weyerhaeuser Company began timber operations in the Everett area around 1900 with the construction of their first sawmill. The company continued to grow and eventually expanded into the papermaking industry. In 1953, the second of two kraft mills opened operations. Kraft mills were a vital step in the production of paper pulp. The kraft process utilized sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide to extract the harmful but naturally occurring degenerative chemical, lignin, from wood fibers. The workers in the Everett Weyerhaeuser Mill were organized first as the Local 236 of the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers. In 1965, as corruption supposedly filled the ranks of the International Brotherhood, the workers then joined the newly formed the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers. The AWPPW's motto, adopted in 1965, was and still is, "Guard Well the Democratic Rights of Your Members." They bill themselves as one of the most democratic unions in the country. The Everett Kraft Mill Local #10 was active at the Weyerhaeuser Mill, where employees struck on numerous occasions throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The AWPPW and the Weyerhaeuser Company operate to this day, while the Everett Kraft Mill and the Local 10 do not.
From the guide to the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, Everett Kraft Mill Local #10 records, circa 1945-1989, (Western Washington University Heritage Resources)
