AFSCME Local 1166 Strike Scrapbook

Collection — sc_box: MTU 2, Folder: 19

Identifier: MTU-156

Staff Only

Collection Scope and Content Summary

Scrapbook, 1972, of the AFSCME Local 1166 strike at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan when 210 food handlers, lab technicians and maintenance personnel walked out after negotiations between the union and the university failed to come to an agreement on a new contract. Includes newspaper clippings, memos and notes.

Dates

1972

Access

Available for use in the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections.

Biography

In 1972, 210 Michigan Technological University food handlers, lab technicians and maintenance personnel went on strike for ten days after negotiations between the AFSCME Local 1166 and the university failed to reach an agreement on a new contract. According to the Local 1166 president, the walkout stemmed partially from the fact that two other state colleges were paying the full cost of employees' insurance, while Michigan Technological University did not and that other institutions provided a seven percent wage hike while MTU only offered five percent. The strike was resolved ten days later when union members voted to approve a contract that provided for a first-year wage increase, increased hospitalization benefits and long-term disability benefits in the second year.