The Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers (AWPPW) is a trade union in the western United States affiliated with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. It was established in September 1964, when West Coast rank-and-file members of the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers became dissatisfied with the conduct of wage negotiations by international vice-presidents and those of another international union, the United Papermakers and Paperworkers, with whom a Uniform Labor Agreement had been negotiated. The dissatisfaction was a result of the international Vice Presidents announcing that they were taking over the United Labor Association bargaining session. They established a new union, the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Mill Workers. Litigation followed, a NLRB election was conducted in October 1964, and the Western organization was certified as the Uniform Labor Agreement bargaining agent. In 1994, it affiliated with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
Culture and symbolism
The AWPPW places a premium on democracy and independence. This is not surprising, given the conditions under which it was founded. For instance, its newsletter, in publication since 1964 is called The Rebel. Its seal is a gavel surrounded by the slogan "Guard Well the Democratic Rights of Your Members." The seal and slogan were created by Bill and Lucille Riggs, inspired by Bill's study of Robert's Rules of Order. Bill "saw the chairman's gavel as a tangible symbol of a member's rights."
Governance
The AWPPW was born out of the perceived dictatorial practices of the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers and the United Papermakers and Paperworkers unions. Consequently, it proclaims itself to be "the most democratic union in the world."
The structure of union governance according to the 2006 AWPPW constitution is as follows:
President
Vice-president
Secretary Treasurer
Union Organizer
Area Reps
Northern Washington
Southern Washington
Oregon, Idaho, Utah
California
Relief Area Reps
Northern Washington
Southern Washington
Oregon, Idaho, Utah
California
Trustees
Northern Washington
Southern Washington
Oregon, Idaho, Utah
California
Lobbyists
Washington
Oregon, Idaho, Utah
Staff - Accounting
Staff - Member Services
Elections and conventions
The Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers use a directly democratic process for election of their officers. Nominations for association officers are done at the convention by seated delegates. Once nominations are accepted, voting for officers is done on a local level by each member in good standing. Every member in good standing is eligible to vote and run for all offices.
Conventions happen every five years, the length of the officers' terms. Special conventions can be called by a 40% call from members in good standing. The members of the executive board (president, vice president, secretary-treasurer, and four elected trustees) do not have power to overrule votes by delegates at convention.
Local contracts are bargained by local officers. Strike votes and contract ratification votes are of a simple majority by the local members in good standing.
The number of delegates from each local is based on the number of members of that local. Delegates, along with all other local officials, are elected locally by members in good standing at that local.
Provisions exist in the constitution for recall of all elected officials.
The split
On April 23, 1964, a majority of 21,000 workers from forty-nine paper mills, owned by eighteen companies, rebelled against the two oldest established unions that had been representing them. The International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers (IBPS&PMW) and the United Papermakers and Paperworkers (UPP), along with affiliate Pacific Coast Pulp and Paper Mill Employees Association (PCPPMEA), bargained collectively with twenty-nine manufacturers.