XV. PERSONAL FILES OF GEORGE L-P. WEAVER, ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT, 1943-1960

Grouped by organization, arrangement varies within each of the major sections: Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers, 1950-1955 (chronological); International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 1949-1959 (alphabetical); International Labour Organisation, 1956-1958 (subject); and President's Committee on Government Contracts, 1950-1960 (alphabetical).

Documents the career and myriad activities of George L-P. Weaver, executive assistant to CIO-Secretary Treasurer James B. Carey (1942-1955), and assistant to the IUE president (1958-1961). The bulk of the series spans Weaver's career prior to his IUE affiliation, with primary emphasis upon his civil rights and international labor affairs activities. Weaver served as Director of the CIO's Civil Rights Committee (1943-1955) and Executive Secretary of the AFL-CIO Civil Rights Department (1956-1958) following the AFL-CIO merger. His work entailed labor's participation in civil rights educational programs and conferences, legislative outreach, establishment and coordination of civil rights committees within affiliated unions, and enforcement of fair employment policies implemented by the respective labor federations. CIO President Walter Reuther designated Weaver as his alternate on the President's (Eisenhower) Committee on Government Contracts (1953-1960), the agency that reviewed government contractors' compliance with federal fair employment practices provisions.

Weaver had an extensive background in international labor affairs acquired from years of governmental service and experience gained as an AFL-CIO representative to various international labor organizations and conferences. He was granted periodic leave of absences from his CIO and AFL-CIO posts to pursue this important work.

From 1950 to 1951 Weaver served as a staff assistant to Senator Stuart Symington (Chairman of the National Security Resources Board) and participated in the reorganization of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. At the behest of the RFC and State Department Weaver headed several missions to Southeast Asia to procure tin reserves vital to national defense. These early missions led to his subsequent appointment as a CIO and AFL-CIO representative to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Established in 1949 with financial aid from the CIO, the ICFTU promoted the cause of free democratic trade unionism in opposition to the communist-dominated World Federation of Trade Unions. Weaver also was a member of the Citizens Committee of the International Labour Organisation and attended ILO conventions as an American labor representative and advisor. In 1961 Weaver left the IUE to become the Assistant Secretary of Labor for International Affairs.