XXIII. IUE EXECUTIVE BOARD FILES, CAREY ERA, 1949-1965

Arranged chronologically

This series represents an artificially-created series consisting of executive board files and material originally scattered and interspersed within two of the original IUE accession groups. The bulk of the series includes executive board files generated and maintained by James B. Carey and his executive assistant, Les Finnegan. Included among the files are: bound and unbound proceedings and typescript minutes of executive board meetings; president's reports; financial reports; special reports; reports, memoranda, and data generated by executive board subcommittees; resolutions; agenda; circular letters; news releases; and memoranda and correspondence pertaining to arrangements, scheduling, and attendance by board members and invited guests or speakers.

Incorporated within the president's report to the IUE Executive Board were reports listed under the following designations: Organizational, Collective Bargaining, Negotiations, Committee on Political Actions, Legislative Affairs, International Affairs, Civic Affairs, and a variety of special issues and topics. A few files pre-date 1950 and cover the union's activities under the IUE Administrative Committee that functioned as a quasi-executive board until that body was officially established at the IUE's Second Annual Convention in December 1950.

Some IUE Executive Board Files contain Carey's handwritten notes, memoranda, and typescript transcripts of board meetings--particularly on important and controversial union matters. Representative subject matter includes: proposed dues increases and their impact on internal union politics; the AFL-CIO merger agreement; the 1955 Westinghouse Strike; establishment of the IUE Ethical Practices Code (1957); the national GE Strike of 1960 (especially the actions of Carey and Leo Jandreau of IUE Local 301, Schenectady, NY); the Andrew Barral case involving charges of financial corruption and expense-padding by IUE international representatives in Puerto Rico; the Carey-Hartnett dispute and recall petition (including a file generated by the five-man executive committee chaired by Harry Block to amicably administer the affairs of the executive board during the dispute); IUE redistricting (1963); and the contested Carey-Jennings Election (1964-1965).

This series particularly highlights the internal upheaval within the union from 1960-1965, owing largely to the Carey-Hartnett dispute and its divisive impact upon the IUE executive board, staff, district officers, field representatives, and local union presidents. President Carey's exercise of arbitrary authority and his interference in the 1960 IUE Conference Board-GE negotiations alienated significant elements within the union. This growing disenchantment received further impetus from Hartnett's attempt to assert control over staff appointments and foment dissention against Carey among district leaders and field representatives. Carey's efforts to discredit Hartnett and his use of the IUE Executive Board and parliamentary tactics to stifle internal opposition to his office is a predominant theme within this series.