AFSCME Local 2659 Representing Employess at the University of Northen Iowa

HISTORY OF AFSCME AND LOCAL 2659

In the early 1930's, The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, began as a number of separate local unions scattered over the United States.

By 1935, there were 30 local unions of public employees, under the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). Because their problems differed from those of Federal employees, these public employees formed a separate department within AFGE.

In 1936, AFSCME was given a charter by the AFL-CIO to represent state, county, and municipal employees of educational and nonprofit organizations.

In 1938, AFSCME membership doubled over the previous year.

By 1955, AFSCME topped the 100,000 mark.

July 4, 1967, our union received its charter under the sponsorship of the United Packinghouse Workers of America, from Rath, Local 1258. It was felt that union representation was necessary because of the need to eliminate discrimination in labor practices and to keep wages in parity with John Deere and Rath Packing. The then University president J.W. Maucker appointed a Physical Plant Advisory Committee to work out the causes of the failure to communicate between the Physical Plant and the administration. This causal event was the administration’s move to require parking stickers at some lots. This committee consisted of 3 Physical Plant employees, 2 Professors and 1 non-voting Personnel Director. The job of the committee was to recommend changes to solve the problem. The structure of this committee changed when Physical Plant employees felt faculty members were unresponsive to their needs. A vote was taken resulting in the faculty being dropped and two more Physical Plant employees being added to the committee.

The catalyst event, a 3 1/2 day strike occurred in 1968 over better wages, access to the University sponsored pension program, better representation and removal of the parking fees. The strike ended by court injunction prior to a permanent solution being decided by the courts.

Finally in 1972, the AFSCME local out of Iowa City agreed to lend its support to our Union and it became the Union most of us are familiar with today. The public employees bill Chapter 20 of the Iowa Code was passed in 1975 and AFSCME was chosen as our bargaining agent. This Union consisted of blue collar, security, and the technical units. The clerical unit joined the local in 1983.

A priority then and still today for the union is to protect jobs by ending the erosion of jobs and stopping contracting out, negotiate fair contract language, improve cost of living standards and proudly service our members.