Dates: circa 1960s-circa 1980s. Size: 1 linear foot in 2 boxes. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections. Stewart-Warner Corp., founded in 1905, made automobile accessories, predominantly speedometers. Its main plant in Chicago was at 1826 W. Diversey Parkway employing over 8,000 workers at its peak. There was a strike in 1981 followed by years of demise, and the factory closed during the 1980s. Workers at Stewart-Warner were organized by the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America Union (UE) but the Union was replaced by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Local 1031. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, some workers, dissatisfied with Local 1031, an umbrella Local not specific to Stewart-Warner, began a movement to spin off a new Local for Stewart-Warner. The United Workers Association-United Electrical Workers (UWA-EW) was formed in 1979. Conflict between the old and new Unions, and with management, led to a strike in 1981. The collection, amassed by employee Steve Cohen, documents the struggle for Union representation through printed newsletters, flyers, memos, and correspondence. [Unprocessed]
