Guide to the Records of Communications Workers of America, Local 1180
1956-1986

Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012

Phone: (212) 998-2630
Fax: (212) 995-4225
E-mail: gail.malmgreen@nyu.edu

© 2004 Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. All rights reserved.
New York University Libraries, Publisher
Processed by Aaron Taub and Gail Malmgreen, 1996.
Machine-readable finding aid derived from a MS Word document dated: 2004. Machine-readable finding aid created by Brian Stevens. Description is in English.


Descriptive Summary

Creator: Records of Communications Workers of America, Local 1180.
Title: Records
Dates: 1956-1986
Abstract: Communications Workers of America, Local 1180 had its origins in the Municipal Management Society (founded in 1954), which represented supervisors working for the City of New York. The MMS affiliated with the CWA in 1965, becoming the CWA’s first public-employee local. CWA Local 1180 members include employees in welfare centers, the Board of Education, the public hospitals, the Port Authority, and the state and city court systems. The collection contains minutes, correspondence, bargaining files, general files, and grievance and arbitration files.
Quantity:
Call Phrase: Wagner 063
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Historical/Biographical Note

CWA Local 1180 had its origins in the Municipal Management Society (MMS), a group founded in 1954 to represent Grade 5 Clerks in the New York City civil service who were considered to have managerial responsibilities. The new organization soon had about 120 members, drawn from nearly every agency in city government.

In 1960 New York City agreed to collective bargaining with unions representing specific classes of workers employed in more than one department, and this ushered in a decade of rapid organization of municipal employees by several unions. The MMS, under president James Gaffney, launched a campaign to become the bargaining unit for administrative employees; this required affiliation with an AFL-CIO international union. After discussions with several unions, the MMS membership voted to join the Communications Workers of America, and in May 1965 the MMS was chartered as CWA Local 1180, the first public employees' local in the CWA. The new local proceeded to bargaining on behalf of approximately 2,000 members. After many grueling months of negotiations, its first contract was approved in April 1967.

The following decades saw the rapid growth of public-sector membership in CWA. The city's severe fiscal crisis of the 1970s resulted in some concessions affecting newer members, but Local President Leonard Katz and CWA District 1 Director Morton Bahr managed to protect the membership from massive layoffs. Expansion of the Department of Social Services created new administrative titles, many of them held by women and minorities. A state take-over of the court system in 1977 gave the Local its first experience with bargaining for state workers. The Local's staff grew to include full-time officers, grievance representatives, and managers of the Security Benefits Fund.

After a hard-fought election in 1979, Arthur Cheliotes took over as local president, pledging his opposition to the city's massive program of consolidation of administrative titles (known as "broadbanding") and promising to defend the principle of promotion by competitive exam. Cheliotes, representing a younger generation of leaders within the Local, involved the membership in a wide range of social and legislative issues, including workplace health and safety, participation in electoral campaigns, affordable housing, opposition to Apartheid, and support for labor rights at the national level. The local has an active education program through the Center for Worker Education at City College and the LEAP Program at Queens College. In March 1986 the local initiated a radio program dealing with issues of concern to public employees and other trade unionists. By 1988 the local represented 9,000 members in high-level supervisory titles, including administrator, principal administrative assistant, and computer associate; two thousand members were supervisors in welfare centers. From its beginnings as an association dominated by white males, the local has evolved into a union in which seventy per cent of the members are women, many of them African-American, Asian-American or Latino.

Sources:

Augsberger, Deborah. Twenty-five Years: Working for a Better New York, Local 1180, Communications Workers of America. New York: CWA Local 1180, 1991.

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Scope and Content Note

Series I: Constitution, Bylaws and Minutes, 1963-1986, contains a constitution and Executive Board minutes dating from the Municipal Management Society period (pre-1965), as well as minutes of the Board, of General Membership Meetings, committee meetings and meetings of the Security Benefits Fund Trustees, 1965-1986.

Series II: Correspondence, 1961-1986, includes exchanges with the CWA international, CWA District 1, Local 1180 members, officers and staff of other unions and organizations, and representatives of management.

Series III: Bargaining Files, 1965-1985, contains reports, drafts of union and management proposals, background reference material, documents reflecting bargaining activity of the Municipal Labor Committee and various New York City and state agencies and departments, with a separate section of files devoted to bargaining within the New York State Judicial Conference and the NYC courts.

Series IV: General Files, 1956-1984, contains correspondence and printed material relating to city and state agencies, including the Judicial Conference, the NYC Human Resources Administration, the NYC Department of Social Services, the Board of Education, the Health and Hospitals Corporation, the Port Authority and others, in which Local 1180 members are or have been employed. There are also files on job classifications, membership applications, benefits, organizing, civil service examinations, the Local's dealings with the NYC Office of Collective Bargaining, and background materials (including contracts) by and about other unions representing city employees.

Series V: Grievances and Arbitration Cases, 1968-1980, contains selected arbitrations awards and case files for 1974 and 1976, and grievance files, arranged alphabetically by name (with several additional files of miscellaneous grievances arranged chronologically).

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Arrangement

Minutes, Correspondence and Bargaining Files are arranged chronologically. General Files are arranged alphabetically by topic. Most grievances are arranged alphabetically by name.
Organized into 5 series:
I, Bylaws, Constitution and Minutes
II, Correspondence
III, Bargaining Files
IV, General Files
V, Grievances and Arbitration Cases
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Related Material at the Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives

Records of Communications Workers of America, District 1 (Wagner 117).

Records of Communications Workers of America, Local 1150 (Wagner 59).

Records of the Communications Workers of America (Wagner 124).

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Separated Material

Several files of photographs were separated to the Non-Print Department of the Tamiment Library.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Open for research without restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the:
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2630
Fax: (212) 995-4225
E-mail: gail.malmgreen@nyu.edu

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Access Points

Subject Names:
Bahr, Morton.
Cheliotes, Arthur.
Gaffney, James.
Katz, Leonard.
Subject Organizations:
Communications Workers of America.
Municipal Management Society (New York, N.Y.).
New York (N.Y.). Board of Education.
New York (N.Y.). Dept. of Social Services.
New York (N.Y.). Human Resources Administration.
New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.
Subject Topics:
Civil Service -- New York (State) -- New York.
Collective Bargaining -- Government employees -- New York (State) -- New York.
Collective bargaining -- State government employees -- New York (State).
Employee rights -- New York (State) -- New York.
Government employee unions -- New York (State) -- New York.
Labor leaders -- New York (State) -- New York.
Subject Places:
New York (State)--New York.
Document Types:
Bylaws.
Clippings.
Contracts.
Correspondence.
Files.
Minutes.
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Administrative Information

Provenance

Donated to the Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives by President Arthur Cheliotes on behalf of CWA, Local 1180 in 1988.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date (if known); The Records of Communications Workers of America, Local 1180; Wagner 063; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives

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Container List

[The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.]

 

Series I: Bylaws, Constitution and Minutes

Box Folder Title Date
1 1 Bylaws undated, 1966-1969
1 2 Constitution (Municipal Management Society) 1963-1964
1 3 Executive Board 1963
1 4 Executive Board 1964
1 5 Executive Board 1965
1 6 Executive Board 1966
1 7 Executive Board 1969
1 8 Executive Board 1970
1 9 Executive Board 1971
1 10 Executive Board 1972
1 11 Executive Board 1973
1 12 Executive Board 1974
1 13 Executive Board 1975
1 14 Executive Board 1976
1 15 Executive Board 1977
1 16 Executive Board 1978
1 17 Executive Board 1979
1 18 Executive Board Jan 1980-Mar 1980
1 19 Executive Board Apr 1980-Dec 1980
1 20 Executive Board 1981
1 21 Executive Board Jan 1982-Jun 1982
1 22 Executive Board Jul 1982-Dec 1982
1 23 Executive Board Jan 1983-Jun 1983
1 24 Executive Board Jul 1983-Dec 1983
1 25 Executive Board 1984
1 26 Executive Board 1985
Box Folder Title Date
2 1 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1968
2 2 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1969
2 3 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1970
2 4 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1971
2 5 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1972
2 6 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1973
2 7 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1974
2 8 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1975
2 9 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1976
2 10 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1977
2 11 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1978
2 12 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1979
2 13 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1980
2 14 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1981
2 15 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1982
2 16 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1983
2 17 Security Benefits Fund: Trustees 1984-1986
2 18 General Membership Meetings 1966
2 19 General Membership Meetings 1968
2 20 General Membership Meetings 1969
2 21 General Membership Meetings 1970
2 22 General Membership Meetings 1971
2 23 General Membership Meetings 1972
2 24 General Membership Meetings 1973
2 25 General Membership Meetings 1974
2 26 General Membership Meetings 1975
2 27 General Membership Meetings 1976
2 28 General Membership Meetings 1977
2 29 General Membership Meetings 1978-1979
2 30 General Membership Meetings 1978
2 31 General Membership Meetings 1979
2 32 General Membership Meetings 1980
2 33 General Membership Meetings 1981
2 34 General Membership Meetings 1982
2 35 General Membership Meetings 1983
2 36 General Membership Meetings 1984
2 37 General Membership Meetings 1973
2 38 General Membership Meetings 1982-1983
2 39 General Membership Meetings 1977
2 40 General Membership Meetings 1980-1983
2 41 General Membership Meetings 1974-1984
2 42 General Membership Meetings 1983
2 43 General Membership Meetings 1977-1983
2 44 General Membership Meetings 1976-1977
2 45 General Membership Meetings 1983
2 46 General Membership Meetings 1977
2 47 General Membership Meetings 1975
2 48 General Membership Meetings 1969-1975

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Series II: Correspondence

Box Folder Title Date
3 1 Communication Workers of America (CWA) International 1970-1981
3 2 CWA District 1 1966-1984
3 3 Local President 1961-1963
3 4 Local President 1964
3 5 Local President 1965
3 6 Local President 1966
3 7 Local President 1967
3 8 Local President 1968
3 9 Local President Jan 1969-Jun 1969
3 10 Local President Jul 1969-Dec 1969
3 11 Local President 1970
3 12 Local President 1971-1974
3 13 Local President 1975-1979
3 14 Local President 1980-1986
3 15 Local Vice-President 1979-1983
3 16 Executive Board 1969-1981
3 17 Members 1963-1973
3 18 Members 1974-1981

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Series III: Bargaining Files

Box Folder Title Date
4 1 Bargaining 1965-1968
4 2 Bargaining 1970-1971
4 3 Bargaining 1967, 1971-1973
4 4 Bargaining 1974-1975
4 5 Bargaining 1976-1977
4 6 Bargaining 1978
4 7 Bargaining 1979
4 8 Bargaining 1980
4 9 Bargaining 1978
4 10 Bargaining 1982-1985
4 11 Bargaining: Judicial Conference 1970-1975
4 12 Bargaining: NYC Unified Court System 1978-1980
4 13 Agreements 1966-1971
4 14 Agreements 1972-1977
4 15 Agreements 1978-1982
4 16 Agreements (Other Public Employee Unions) 1971-1977

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Series IV: General Files

Box Folder Title Date
5 1 Administrative Assistant 1966
5 2 Administrative Assistant: Exams 1969-1974
5 3 Administrative Assistant: Exams 1976
5 4 Administrative Associate: Exams 1968-1969
5 5 Administrative Associate: Exams 1970-1971
5 6 Administrative Associate: Exams 1972-1976
5 7 Administrative Manager 1973-1977, 1984
5 8 Agency for Child Development 1976-1977
5 9 Agreements (Other Unions) 1971
5 10 AFSCME, DC 37 1964, 1970-1978
5 11 AFSCME, Local 371 1969
5 12 Arbitration Awards: District 1 Locals 1973-1976
5 13 Arbitration Awards: District 1 Locals Jan 1977-Aug 1977
5 14 Arbitration Awards: District 1 Locals Sep 1977-1978
5 15 Assaults: Income Maintenance Centers 1974-1976
5 16 Bahr, Morton 1974-1975
5 17 Barnes, Carmen 1973-1974
5 18 Benefits: Dental Plan 1968
5 19 Benefits: Legal Plan 1978-1980
5 20 Benefits: Legal Plan 1981
5 21 Benefits: Legal Plan 1982
5 22 Benefits: Pensions 1968
5 23 Benefits: Prescriptions 1972-1973
5 24 Board of Education 1964-1969
5 25 Board of Education 1970-1972
5 26 Board of Education 1973-1977, 1980
5 27 Board of Education: Bureau of Supplies 1975-1977
Box Folder Title Date
6 1 Board of Estimate 1968
6 2 Boulevard Center: Restructuring 1974
6 3 Broadbanding undated
6 4 Budgets 1975-1976, 1981
6 5 Bureau of Child Welfare 1967-1970
6 6 Bureau of Child Welfare 1972-1976
6 7 Bureau of Medical Assistance 1972-1976
6 8 CETA: Board of Education Organizing undated
6 9 Citizens’ Committee for the Children of New York 1976
6 10 City of Hope 1973
6 11 Civil Defense: Titles 1973
6 12 Civil Service Commission 1970, 1974
6 13 Classification and Compensation 1967-1979
6 14 Clerical Salaries/Benefits 1981
6 15 Coalition of Black Trade Unionists 1980-1982
6 16 Committee on Civil Service and Labor 1973
6 17 Community Services Committee 1978, 1980
6 18 Conference: District 1 1968
6 19 Cornell University: Training Programs 1973
6 20 CWA: COPE 1973
6 21 CWA: District 1 1982
6 22 CWA: Local 1181 (merger w/1180) 1972-1973
6 23 CWA: Local 1183 1973
6 24 CWA: National Conventions 1970-1980
6 25 CWA: Structure Review Committee Report 1970
6 26 Department of Buildings 1965
6 27 Department of Consumer Affairs 1971-1972
6 28 Department of Corrections 1976-1977
6 29 Department of Finance 1967-1971
6 30 Department of Health 1967-1972, 1975-1977
6 31 Department of Health: Performance Evaluation 1977
6 32 Department of Highways 1969-1970
6 33 Department of Hospitals 1965-1969
6 34 Department of Mental Health 1968-1970
6 35 Department of Parks 1963, 1971, 1975-1977
6 36 Department of Personnel 1966-1974
6 37 Department of Personnel 1975-1978
6 38 Department of Probation 1976-1977
6 39 Department of Social Services 1967-1969
6 40 Department of Social Services 1970-1971
6 41 Department of Social Services 1972-1975
6 42 Department of Social Services 1972-1978
6 43 Department of Social Services: Advisory Committee 1973
6 44 Department of Social Services: Case Intake and Management 1975
6 45 Department of Social Services: Caseload Redistribution 1974
6 46 Department of Social Services: Directory May 1974
6 47 Department of Social Services: Division of Location and Support 1972-1976
6 48 Department of Social Services: Face-to Face Recertification 1972-1977
6 49 Department of Social Services: Field Auditors undated
Box Folder Title Date
7 1 Department of Social Services: Office Managers 1967-1968
7 2 Department of Social Services: Office of Community Services 1973
7 3 Department of Social Services: Salary Inequities 1967-1968
7 4 Department of Social Services: Surplus Food Depots 1968-1970
7 5 Department of Social Services: Theft of Checks 1970, 1972
7 6 Department of Social Services: Training 1969-1972
7 7 Department of Social Services: Department of Traffic 1968-1970
7 8 Direct Care Services 1973
7 9 Division of Field Audit 1970, 1973-1974
7 10 Dues 1963-1966, 1970-1973
7 11 Education 1974, 1981-1982
7 12 Education Committee 1974, 1978-1981
7 13 Education Fund 1974, 1980-1982
7 14 Elections 1968, 1975-1979
7 15 Elections 1981-1983
7 16 Elections: Stewards 1974-1975
7 17 Emergency Control Board 1961-1975
7 18 Emergency Pay Policy 1976
7 19 Environmental Protection Administration 1968
7 20 Environmental Protection Administration 1967-1977
7 21 Exams 1974
7 22 Executive Board: Miscellaneous 1974-1980
7 23 Family Assistance Act 1970
7 24 Finance Administration 1972-1977
7 25 Finances 1972-1980
7 26 Fire Department 1967, 1970-1971
7 27 Food Stamp Program 1976-1977
7 28 Grievance Committee 1977, 1979
7 29 Grievance Representative: Applications 1976
7 30 Health and Hospital Corporation 1970-1972
7 31 Health and Hospital Corporation 1973-1974
7 32 Health and Hospital Corporation 1975-1976
7 33 Health and Hospital Corporation: Personnel Review Board 1973
7 34 Health and Hospital Corporation: Personnel Review Board 1974, 1977
7 35 Health and Hospital Corporation: Taylor Law Penalty Appeals 1976-1977
7 36 Health and Hospital Corporation: Layoffs/Strike Proposals 1977
7 37 Health Services Administration 1969-1976
7 38 Home Attendant Services 1976-1978
7 39 Housing Authority 1966-1977
7 40 Housing and Development Administration 1969-1975
7 41 Housing and Development Administration 1976-1978
Box Folder Title Date
8 1 Human Resources Administration 1964-1972
8 2 Human Resources Administration Jan 1973-Apr 1973
8 3 Human Resources Administration May 1973-Jun 1973
8 4 Human Resources Administration Jul 1973-Dec 1973
8 5 Human Resources Administration 1974-1978
8 6 Human Resources Administration 1975-1981
8 7 Human Resources Administration: Hours and Scheduling 1972, 1974
8 8 Human Resources Administration: Housing Procedure Meeting 1976
8 9 Human Resources Administration: Income Maintenance Centers: Hours 1974, 1976-1977
8 10 Human Resources Administration: Security Task Force 1972, 1977-1978
8 11 Human Resources Administration: WIN Program undated
8 12 Human Resources Administration: Workers’ Attitude Survey 1977
8 13 Hunter College: Income Maintenance Training Project 1976
8 14 Income Maintenance Centers: CPCU 1975
8 15 Income Maintenance Project 1976
8 16 Income Maintenance Training Committee 1976-1977
8 17 Institute of Municipal management 1966
8 18 Insurance: Group Life undated
8 19 Judicial Conference 1966-1974
8 20 Judicial Conference 1975-1979
8 21 Judicial Conference: Bargaining 1974-1979
8 22 Labor Organizations: Titles Represented 1973-1974
8 23 Law Department 1973
8 24 Leave Regulations undated
8 25 Legislative 1967-1968, 1974-1981
8 26 Legislative Committee 1976-1980, 1983
8 27 Local Officers (List) 1966
8 28 Long Island Federation of Labor 1977-1981
8 29 Managerial: Confidential 1975
8 30 Medicaid: Training Materials 1974-1980
8 31 Membership Applications 1956-1957
8 32 Membership Committee 1975-1976
8 33 Meeting Notices 1969-1976
Box Folder Title Date
9 1 Municipal Labor Committee 1966-1967
9 2 Municipal Labor Committee 1971-1974
9 3 Municipal Labor Committee 1975
9 4 Municipal Labor Committee 1978-1982
9 5 Municipal Labor Committee 1973-1979
9 6 Municipal Service Administration 1973-1976
9 7 Neponsit Home 1967-1974
9 8 New York City Central Labor Council 1968, 1970-1984
9