The materials in this collection date from 1971 to 2004, with the bulk of the records dating to the 1980s and 1990s. The major subject documented in this collection is the organization's role in contract bargaining. There are documents related to bargaining which span almost the entire life of the organization, although the later years are poorly represented. These materials include Bargaining Committee meeting minutes, Collective Bargaining Agreements, contract proposals and counter proposals, and documentation of the strikes (and near strikes) that resulted in the breakdown of contract negotiations.
This collection is divided into five series: ADMINISTRATIVE/FINANCIAL, PUBLICITY/PRESS, ACTIVITIES, SUBJECT FILE, and VISUAL MATERIALS. Both the ADMINISTRATIVE/FINANCIAL and ACTIVITIES series are also divided into sub-series.
The ADMINISTRATIVE/FINANCIAL series provides information on the operation of the organization on a day-to-day basis and includes a wall calendar from 1983, meeting minutes, correspondence, policies, financial records, memos and information on MULO's history and background. Two sub-series include Committees and Financial records.
Committees, 1969-2003, includes mainly meeting minutes of the different committees formed by MULO. The committees included in this collection are Bargaining, Diversity, Health and Safety, Membership, and Organizing. There are also many accident and injury reports, an employee handbook, and some membership information such as a membership list from 1989-2000.
The Financial records, 1972-1999, include account/receipts paid, an arbitration account, lease/rental information, grant applications, and strike fund paid applications from 1972.
The PUBLICITY/PRESS series includes copies of flyers, graphics, and logos used by MULO to advertise meetings, strikes, and benefits. The series also includes press coverage of the organization as well as press releases issued by MULO. There is also one document that contains a small amount of general information about the newsletter, MULO News, issued by the organization. Copies of MULO News have been microfilmed and are available in the Wisconsin Historical Society Library.
The ACTIVITIES series is the most extensive and covers all the activities which MULO participated in or organized. The activities included are Bargaining, Elections, Grievance/arbitration, Support for other organizations, and Workplace inspections/tours.
The Bargaining sub-series, 1972-2004, covers the entire life of the organization. It includes Collective Bargaining Agreements from 1988-2004 along with “A guide to the contract between MULO & the Wisconsin Union;” unbound, annotated agreements; general bargaining material from 1990, 1994, 1999, and 2000 as well as information on contract education; copies of contract proposals and demands, including a mid-strike proposal from 1976; information about strikes from 1972, 1980, and 1984; tape recorded bargaining sessions, mainly from the mid-1980s; and documents from state level bargaining from 1999.
The Elections sub-series contains ballots from several different MULO officer elections, mostly from the 1980s. The ballots include the names of the nominees and how many votes they received.
The Grievance/arbitration sub-series, 1974-1999, includes examples of arbitrations, lists of available arbitrators, general information about the grievance process, and grievances filed pertaining to health and safety issues as well as personal issues.
Support for other organizations, 1971-1999, includes information MULO collected pertaining to other labor organizations which they supported or in which they were interested.
Workplace inspections/tours, 1986-1999, consists of inspection and tour forms completed while inspecting working conditions in the Wisconsin Unions. This sub-series also includes photocopies from a photo album of photographs of working conditions, probably from 1986. The original photographs are located in the visual materials series with call number PH 6539.
The SUBJECT FILE series, 1973-2000, is a set of reference files created by the union on various topics such as local and national labor unions, wage issues, eliminating asbestos in the workplace, and job classification issues. This series is arranged alphabetically.
The VISUAL MATERIALS series consists of photographs of working conditions, probably taken in 1986. The photographs show leaking pipes located above work stations and the existence of asbestos. This series also includes a group of 22 posters, some of which date to 1976. The posters were used to advertise meetings, gain support for bargaining issues, and to advertise strikes.
