International Woodworkers of America

International Woodworkers of America
Name	International Woodworkers of America
Founded	1937
Dissolved	1994 (merged)
Headquarters	Portland, Oregon
Affiliation	Congress of Industrial Organizations (former)
Key people	T.J. Bonner; Alvin F. A. Svenson; A. L. Kinne
Members	115,000 (peak)
Country	United States; Canada

International Woodworkers of America

The International Woodworkers of America was a North American labor union that organized workers in the lumber, timber, plywood, and related forestry industries. Founded in the late 1930s during a wave of industrial unionism, the union became prominent in the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, and parts of the Upper Midwest, engaging in strikes, political campaigns, and inter-union negotiations. It affiliated with national labor federations and interacted with industrial and craft unions, state politicians, and corporate lumber firms.

History

The union emerged amid the rise of industrial unionism in the 1930s, contemporaneous with the formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and the reorganization drives that affected the American Federation of Labor and the CIO. Early leaders drew on organizing experiences from the Industrial Workers of the World tradition and regional labor struggles in cities such as Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Vancouver (British Columbia), and Spokane, Washington. During World War II the union negotiated wartime production agreements with major firms like Weyerhaeuser and Georgia-Pacific, while Cold War politics brought scrutiny from entities including the House Un-American Activities Committee and state-level anti-communist investigations. The union expanded postwar into Canada, negotiating provincial agreements in British Columbia and interacting with Canadian labor bodies such as the Canadian Labour Congress. Internal disputes, jurisdictional conflicts with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and others, and economic shifts in the forestry sector marked later decades.

Organization and Structure

The union was organized through local lodges and district councils, coordinated by a national executive board and a convention system modeled on other industrial unions like the United Auto Workers and the United Steelworkers. Regional offices in the Pacific Northwest reported to the national headquarters in Portland, Oregon and worked with provincial committees in British Columbia and state councils in Washington (state) and Oregon. The union employed rank-and-file structures similar to those in the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and used collective bargaining units patterned after agreements with corporate employers such as International Paper and Brown Company (New Hampshire). Officers included presidents, secretaries, and treasurers who coordinated bargaining, grievance arbitration tribunals, and strike fund distributions.

Membership and Demographics

Membership concentrated among loggers, sawmill workers, pulp and paper mill employees, and plywood plant laborers in regions tied to timber resources such as Coos Bay, Astoria, Oregon, Prince George (British Columbia), and the Boundary Country. The union's ranks included veterans of the Great Depression era, immigrant workers from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, and Indigenous workers from communities including the Tsimshian and Nisga'a. Membership trends mirrored the boom-and-bust cycles of the lumber industry, with peak rolls reached during postwar housing expansion and declines aligned with mechanization, environmental regulation debates involving organizations like the Sierra Club, and trade shifts affecting firms such as Canfor.

Major Strikes and Labor Actions

The union led significant labor actions, including regional strikes that affected supply chains to corporations like Willamette Industries and Boise Cascade. Notable disputes involved prolonged walkouts in British Columbia timber towns and multi-week strikes in the U.S. Pacific Northwest that drew attention from state governors, including those of Oregon and Washington (state), and federal mediators from agencies patterned after the National Labor Relations Board. Conflicts sometimes escalated into confrontations with strikebreakers supplied by private firms and law enforcement interventions in locales such as Bellingham and Eugene, Oregon. The union also engaged in coordinated slowdowns and bargaining boycotts reminiscent of tactics used by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

Political Activities and Affiliations

The union participated in electoral politics and policy advocacy, endorsing candidates for state legislatures and supporting labor-friendly initiatives in the Washington (state) Legislature and the Oregon Legislative Assembly. It allied with progressive and New Deal era figures, working with organizations sympathetic to labor causes such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on localized campaigns. During the Red Scare the union faced accusations from anti-communist actors including factions of the Republican Party (United States) and investigations influenced by the House Un-American Activities Committee, shaping its national strategy and alliances with broader labor coalitions led by figures from the AFL-CIO leadership.

Relationship with Other Unions and the CIO

The union's relationship with other labor bodies was marked by both cooperation and jurisdictional rivalry. It coordinated bargaining and strike support with CIO affiliates like the United Auto Workers and United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America on industry-wide labor standards, while contesting representation with craft unions such as the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and the International Association of Machinists. Throughout its history interactions with federations such as the CIO and later the AFL-CIO influenced merger discussions, dispute resolutions, and the union's stance on industrial organizing strategies.

Decline, Mergers, and Legacy

Decline set in during the late 20th century due to industry contraction, mechanization, environmental litigation involving groups like the Audubon Society, and shifting trade patterns with Canadian producers including West Fraser. Financial pressures and membership losses led to merger talks culminating in integration with larger unions during the 1990s, echoing consolidations such as the creation of entities like the United Steelworkers through broader labor realignments. The union's legacy survives in collective bargaining precedents, regional labor culture in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, and archival collections held by institutions including the Labor Archives and Research Center and university special collections in University of British Columbia and Portland State University.

Category:Trade unions in the United States Category:Trade unions in Canada