HISTORY OF LOCAL 2 OFFICE & PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION

     Local 2 is 100 years old and what began in 1904 with seventeen office workers seeking to bargain collectively for better pay, better working conditions, and dignity at the workplace, has blossomed into our current very diverse membership. Metro buses and trains cannot run without us. Washington Gas Light cannot function without us. Kaiser Permanente cannot serve its patients without us. ADT cannot provide security to the Washington-Baltimore Metro area without us and quite literally, the busses and subways of Washington and Baltimore would not run without Local 2 members on the job.
Together we endeavor to improve the workplace environment, receive a just reward for our labor, and work to build a better world for our families and all those around us.
Our mission:  We want a safer world, a more tolerant world, and a more peaceful world based on justice for all.

   In the years that followed charters were issued to office workers in most of the major cities in the United States.  On March 26, 1931, a charter was issued for Vancouver, B.C., thus establishing the first Canadian local.  The membership of these earlier Locals consisted principally of workers of trade unions.

    The Wagner Act in 1935 stimulated the organization of office workers on private industry.  Growth was shown in the retail field, and the pulp and paper industry.  Some union production workers assisted in the organization of clerical workers in a wide segment of industry. Caught between low salaries and spiraling prices during World War II period, office workers sought collective bargaining.  The rapid expansion of defense industries further stimulated white-collar organizations.  The demand of this increasing membership focused attention on the urgent need for an international union.  The need for communication and cooperation between the Local Unions become more apparent as they entered into collective bargaining agreements with common employers and industries. Locals in various areas organized councils for the exchange of information.  Collective bargaining agreements and methods of organization were subjects for discussion.  Naturally, these conferences become the active advocates for an international union.

In 1941, the American Federation of Labor convened in Seattle, Washington. Representatives of Western Council of Office Workers (an outgrowth of the Pacific Northwest Council of Office Workers), and Locals from other areas throughout the United States attended.  They successfully "lobbied" for the adoption of an resolution instructing the officers of the A.F. of L. to establish an International Council, the customary first step toward an international union. As a direct result of this action, A.F. of L. President William Green called a meeting in Chicago on July 28, 1942.  Delegates from 50 Locals attended.  They formed the International Council of Office Employees Unions.  Most of the remaining 99 locals, which did not attend the conference, promptly affiliated with the International Council.

     The delegates elected J. Howard Hicks, President of the Western Council of Office Workers, as first President of the International Council.  He immediately established an office in Washington, D.C., and with the help of the A.F. of L. began the work of expanding the Council's membership.  Its official organ:  "THE OFFICE WORKER", now know as White Collar, began publication. The line of communication between Locals was further strengthened by frequent field visits of the officers. 

To hasten the development of an international union, policies and procedures were formulated and methods of accounting were established.  During this period, annual conventions were held in Detroit and St. Louis and the International Council functioned so successfully that it was ready for the transition to an International Union.

 A constitutional convention was held in Cincinnati, Ohio, on January 8, 1945, attended by President, William Green who personally presented its A.F. of L. charter, thus officially establishing the Office Employees International Union. The words " and Professional" were inserted at the 1965 San Francisco convention. Since establishment of the International Union in 1945, its membership has grown from some 22,500 to more than 125,000 in 145 Locals on the United States, Canada and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.  In giving due consideration to the unusual problems inherent in organizing white-collar workers, the Office and Professional Employees International Union has rendered exceptional performance in its field. 

     OPEIU members today are employed in every conceivable type of private industry including, among others, the pulp and paper industry in Canada and the United States, Health Care, stock exchanges in Wall Street, the petroleum industry in Texas, motion picture, television and radio broadcasting industries in Hollywood, steamship, shipbuilding and repair yards, the Tennessee Valley Authority, public utilities of all types including:  atomic power industries - retail, wholesale and distributing fields, with string representation in industrial establishment. 

     The White Collar Union's recent organizing breakthrough has been the unionization of employees in several large banks in Canada and the United States.