Finding aid prepared by Mary Thomas and Jane Boley, September, 1996.
Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers International Union Records, Local 4-228, Port Neches, Texas, AR385, Box Number, Folder Number, The University of Texas at Arlington Library Special Collections.
The union was chartered on September 22, 1933, with approximately 150 members. At that time it was known as Local 228 of the International Association of Oilfield, Gas Well, and Refinery Workers of America (later referred to as the Oil Workers International Union). The principal purpose of the union was to gain recognition as the collective bargaining agent for the employees at Pure Oil Company's Smith's Bluff refinery and at the Texas Company refinery in Port Neches.
The National Labor Relations Board threw out a company union at Pure Oil in 1938, an action that was upheld by the court the following year. In November, 1939, an NLRB election was held. The Oil Workers International Union won this election 152 to 110. The subsequent contract signed with Pure Oil was the first ever to be obtained without a strike.
The OWIU won (by a vote of 296 to 118) an election held at the Texas Company, and Local 228 was certified there on March 31, 1941.
During the years of the second World War, the membership of Local 228 increased, and the workers were given better wages and working conditions. Further improvements were achieved as the result of a nationwide strike of oil workers in 1945 and again in 1947.
A convention to approve a merger of the independent oil unions with the Oil Workers International Union was held on June 1, 1954. The merger officially took place in February, 1955, with the formation of the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW). The unification necessitated the attachment of district designations to the old local numbers. As a result, OWIU, Local 228 became OCAW, Local 4-228.
During the 1950's and 1960's the OCAW increased its political activities through participation in the Committee on Political Education (AFL-CIO) and through involvement in local political contests.
The minutes in this collection trace the history of Local 4-228 from 1965-1986.
The collection consists entirely of photocopies of minutes of meetings of OCAW, Local 4-228. These both continue and close gaps in the local's minutes that are in collection AR64.
The original minutes for OCAW, Local 4-228, Port Neches, Texas, were donated to the Texas Labor Archives, Special Collections Division, The University of Texas at Arlington Library on August 24, 1992. The local, however, requested these documents be returned for use in a lawsuit in September, 1994. The material was photocopied at that time, and the original documents were returned as requested.
Open for research.
Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Library. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.
Additional information concerning OCAW, Local 4-228 may be obtained from the following sources in Special Collections: