History of IAM & AW Local Lodge 862
(Taken from “A Blueprint for Success”—LL 862 News written in 1993)
On the south wall of the new Labor
Hall, in a simple black frame, hangs a document; many of us don’t even realize
it is there. It is probably the least read piece of paper in the entire hall,
yet, conceivably, the most important. It represents the hopes and dreams of a
group of men that are as valid today as they were when the paper was signed over
50 years ago. It is our Local’s charter.
With help of senior brothers Ray
Nold, Louis Nold, George Dell and Ken VanDover, 862 News tries to answer
some of these questions. Perhaps, with the memories of the brothers, we can
understand the concern and caring that are the backbone of our Local, thanks to
the strength of these men’s convictions.
A group of men joined together in
early 1951, with hopes of improving their lives and bettering their working
conditions. As these early pioneers of labor progressed toward this goal, they
soon found that they were going to have to do it themselves, because there was
no support for their efforts to be found anywhere else in
Imagine walking into Hub City,
and, because of the dust and smoke in the air, not being able to see; consider
the same scene in which the only source of ventilation was the building’s
windows (if they opened). Molten steel was being poured with no shields
and burns from casting explosions were commonplace. Employees working with
carbon tetrachloride did so with no personal protection or ventilation. Casting
dust, black and sooty, was everywhere, with no provisions for respiratory
protection or facilities for proper cleanup. Steel kept in the stock room was
stacked in such a haphazard manner that it became a sort of ‘game’ to see if
it were possible to get the piece you needed without being cripple by falling
steel (several such injuries did occur). Consider a foundry in which the
‘proper’ tooling consisted of a pick, a shovel, and wheelbarrow. Sand
arrived at the plant in railroad boxcars, where it had been loaded wet. Think
about unloading these cars by hand during the months of November through March,
and understand the need for a pick. Such were the conditions these men faced,
day in and day out.
Now add to this picture the fact
that in order to keep their jobs, they found themselves working 10.6 hours a
day-6 days a week, with no overtime, for 65 cents an hour. Each year they would
get a 2-3% raise, which came out to about 1.3-1.9 cents per hour. After working
under these conditions at Hub City for 3 years, they were given 2 days vacation.
To correct these conditions, the
men secretly began searching for an organization that might be willing to
represent them. Secretly is the key
word here, because the brothers openly admit that they were forced to literally
sneak around and talk with people, because the company had passed the word that
anyone caught organizing or ‘signing up’ for a union, would be fired. In
spite of this danger, convincing people of the need for representation proved
amazingly easy. All they needed was to look around them, and everyone was
finding it difficult to survive on their present wages.
In September, 1951, the workers at
Hub city voted to join the International Association of Machinists (I.A.M.) and
the charter for Local Lodge 862 was drafted, with 51 original signing members.
The Charter was signed September12, 1951.
Needless to say, the company was
less than pleased, but still felt they had the power to name their own terms.
They were, however, rudely awakened, when LL 862, after a number of impasses in
contract negotiations, elected to go out on strike.
At this time, Hub City was under
government contract for housings to Northern Pump, in Minneapolis, MN. Due to
the fact that only a limited number of housings could be poured on a given
workday, it seems likely that the potential loss of this contract helped force
the company back to the bargaining table after only 4 or 5 days.
With Brothers Boyd Obermeyer and
Frank Lacher handling the first negotiations for the newly formed Local, a
contract agreement was soon reached which had provisions for raising wages from
65 cents to $1.35 per hour and cutting the work week from 63.6 to 47 hours.
Vacation benefits and provisions for improving the dismal working conditions
were also set forth.
As with any company used to
getting its own way all the time, problems kept cropping up, but, according to
the brothers, once the company realized the solidarity existing in the shop,
things did begin to improve. With at least one Union representative present on
each shift (day and night) problems soon began being solved in an honorable
manner. When the overall working conditions began improving and workers finally
had a little extra money in their pockets, plus a few extra benefits, the
atmosphere lightened and they seemed to be a bit more enthusiastic about
performing their jobs.
So, by late 1951, 51 men had
fought for and won for themselves (and, as always, a few scabs) the rights of
decency, fairness, and representation in the working place.
Their efforts were, however, not
well met in the conservative Aberdeen community. They experienced distrust and
outright hostility, even in such simple matters as finding a place to hold their
meetings. No one seemed to want them and they were forced to meet wherever they
could in those day. These sites varied from the old Eagles Lodge (over the Oases
Bar) and the Moose Lodge to the VFW and the Old Royal Hotel (which stood at the
site of the present Norwest Bank drive-through).
But as much as things change,
others seem to remain the same. All four brothers noted that several original
problems still seem to be with us. While working conditions, wages, benefits,
etc. have improved, the company still insists on trying every possible means to
separate present and new employees form the Union. They twist facts and point
fingers while explaining (especially to new employees) that the company has
their best interests at heart, while the
2003 Executive Board: President: Kerry Wilson, Vice President: Richard Jensen,
Recording Secretary: Nancy Plummer, Financial Secretary: Gregg Cramer
Shop Committee: Chairman Dennis Stucker, Herb Forkel &
Daryl Furhman