American Federation of Teachers Local 2084 records

American Federation of Teachers Local 2084 records, 1970-2008

Overview of the Collection

Creator: American Federation of Teachers--Local 2084 (Bellingham, Wash.)
Title: American Federation of Teachers Local 2084 records
Dates: 1970-2008 (inclusive)
19702008

1970-1985 (bulk)
19701985
Quantity: .5 linear ft.
Collection Number: XOE_CPNWS0290aft (collection)
Summary: The collection includes newsletters, memos, correspondence, cartoons, clippings and other records documenting union affiliation and activity among Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University) faculty during the 1970s and 1980s, as well as a small amount of material from 2008.
Repository: Western Washington University, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies
Goltz-Murray Archives Building
808 25th St.
Bellingham, WA
98225
Telephone: (360) 650-7534
cpnws@wwu.edu
Access Restrictions: The collection is open to the public.
Languages: English.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is an international union affiliate of the AFL-CIO that was founded in 1916 to represent the economic, social and professional interests of classroom teachers. Its mission is to improve the lives of its members and their families, to give voice to their legitimate professional, economic and social aspirations, to strengthen the institutions in which they work, to improve the quality of the services they provide, to bring together all members to assist and support one another and to promote democracy, human rights and freedom in the union, the nation and throughout the world.*

In 1970, Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University) faculty formed a local chapter (Local 2084) of the American Federation of Teachers. Although the local chapter didn’t achieve formal status from the American Federation of Teachers until 2002, it was nevertheless very active during the original three-plus decades of its existence. During its history, the primary issues of concern for the local union were salary policies and reductions in the faculty workforce. The union also advocated for enabling legislation for collective bargaining among faculty at institutions of higher education.

The United Faculty of Western Washington is the current union and collective bargaining agent for Western faculty. It is an affiliate of the United Faculty of Washington State, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National Education Association.

* Source: American Federation of Teachers website, http://www.aft.org.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The American Federation of Teachers Local 2084 records date from 1970 to 1985, with a small amount of material from 2008, and consist of the program materials, membership records, and publications of the Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University) faculty union located in Bellingham, WA. The collection documents the union’s advocacy efforts during the 1970s and 1980s, which included fighting salary reductions, preventing faculty lay-offs, and pursuing enabling legislation for collective bargaining at four-year institutions of higher learning. These issues were prevalent among colleges and universities throughout the state of Washington at the same time.

Program materials contain records of the local chapter’s board, correspondence, draft proposals, and notices, bulletins, and memoranda. Membership materials include lists of active members, as well as membership packets and recruitment instructions. Publications include an incomplete set of the Western Union, the local chapter’s official publication, as well as original cartoons by union members. There are also some newspaper clippings about union-related activities both locally at Western as well as in colleges and universities throughout the state of Washington.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

American Federation of Teachers Local 2084 records, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA 98225-9123.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The American Federation of Teachers Local 2084 records are organized according to the following series arrangement:

Series I: Program Materials
Series II: Membership Materials
Series III: Publications

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated in multiple installments, the first by William Lyne in June 2007, the second by Eugene Hogan in April 2008, and the third by Milton Krieger in August 2018.

Processing Note

The collection was processed by Rozlind Koester for the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies in 2008. A small addition was included in December 2018. Personal information and duplicate materials have been removed from the collection.

Processing Note

About Harmful Language and Content

To learn more about problematic content in our collections, collection description and teaching tools (including how to provide feedback or request dialogue on this topic), see the following Statement About Potentially Harmful Language and Content

Related Materials

The J. Kaye Faulkner collection and the Don Eklund papers at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies also contain information related to union activity at Western Washington University.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

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

Series I : Program Materials , 1972-1985 , 2008 Return to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box/Folder
1/1	AFT Local 2084 history (written by a former member)	2008
1/2	Board materials	circa 1980s
1/3	Correspondence	1972-1985
1/4	Draft proposal	1972 June
1/5	Draft proposal	1973 January
1/6	Draft proposal	1973 September
1/7	Draft proposal	1979 May
1/8	Notices, bulletins, and memoranda	1970-1983
1/9	Petition to Legislature	1983 March
1/10	Resolutions	1972-1975
1/11	United Faculty of Western Washington materials re: collective bargaining, salary, and teaching load	2008

Series II : Membership Materials , 1970s-1980s , 2008 Return to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
1/12	Membership applications	circa 1970s-1980s
1/13	Membership drives	circa 1970s-1980s
1/14	Membership lists	circa 1970s-1980s
1/15	Membership packets	circa 1970s-1980s; 2008
1/16	Retirees' material	2008

Series III : Publications , 1970s-1980s , 2008 Return to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
1/17	AFT comics	circa 1970s-1980s
1/18	Western Union - official publication of the AFT Local 2084	1970-1976; 1982-1983
1/19	Newspaper clippings	circa 1970s-1980s
1/20	Newspaper clippings (Western Front, Cascadia Weekly, letters to the editor of the Bellingham Herald, etc.)	2008
1/21	Other publications	circa 1970s-1980s

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Collective bargaining--College teachers--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources.
Collective labor agreements--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources.
College teachers' unions--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources.
College teachers' unions--Washington (State)--Bellingham--Periodicals.
Labor disputes--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources.
Labor unions--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources.
Universities and colleges--Faculty--Labor unions--Washington (State)--History--Sources.

Corporate Names

American Federation of Teachers--Local 2084 (Bellingham, Wash.)--Archives.
Western Washington University--Faculty--History--Sources.
Western Washington State College--Faculty--History--Sources.

Geographical Names

Bellingham (Wash.)--History--Sources.

Form or Genre Terms

Records (Documents)

Archives West Finding Aid

Table of Contents