Finnegan's research and reference files

Finnegan's research and reference files pertaining to the IUE/UE split in 1949 constitutes the most extensive and important subseries within the UE Research Series. These records document the furtive maneuvering and machinations involving the UE leadership, the UEMDA, and the CIO in the months preceding the expulsion of UE in November 1949. Items include: correspondence and memoranda generated by Carey, Finnegan, UEMDA members, and CIO officials (Philip Murray); UEMDA minutes and resolutions adopted at the Dayton Conference(1949); summary UE convention and General Executive Board proceedings (September 1949); excerpted testimony of James Matles and Julius Emspak before HUAC (December 5, 1949); affidavits of ex-communist UE members (Sidney Mason); reports, notes, and analyses of local union election results (1949); UE research material on the schism compiled for the CIO and Philip Murray; clippings pertaining to the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists (ACTU); the UE Secession Statement (November 1949); the IUE request for a national CIO Charter; press clippings covering the chronology of the schism and UE expulsion; and publications, pamphlets, and circular letters generated by the warring factions within the UE.

Finnegan's and Carey's correspondence with UEMDA contacts at the district and local levels (prior to the UE 1949 convention) chronicle the political infighting within local unions as left and right-wing factions vied for convention delegates and candidate slots in local and district elections. Correspondence files for "September-November 1949" document the activities of the right-wing caucus in the critical month following the UE convention. These important files highlight Carey and Finnegan's coordination of local support for the resolutions passed by the caucus and the selection of a ten-man committee to represent the UE right-wing at the CIO convention in November 1949. Correspondents include: John Dillon, Harry Block, Dallas Smith, E.J. Kraft, and Joseph Hawkins.

Groundwork for the issuance of a CIO charter for the IUE, the formation of an IUE Administrative Committee, and analysis of the problems inherent in assuming the contracts and assets of disaffiliated UE locals are among the important subjects that preoccupied the committee. UE attacks upon the members comprising the right-wing caucus are extensively documented within the series. Reports from UEMDA contacts in the field also chronicle UE organizational activities and incidents of jurisdictional raiding by other unions that hampered the left-wing forces. Ultimately, the UE adopted a "no-raiding" ultimatum at its 1949 Convention, directly implicated the CIO for its failure to act against other unions. There are additional clippings files pertaining to the IUE/UE schism in Local 301 (Schenectady, NY) and Local 601 (East Pittsburgh,PA), and correspondence documenting the right-wing faction's defense of Carey and Block within Local 101 (Philadelphia, PA).

This subseries also contains a small quantity of post-1949 material (correspondence, clippings, resolutions, and releases) covering IUE affairs in the immediate aftermath of the split (1950-1951). These files cover such subjects as the control over assets and properties of disaffiliated UE locals; contracts (Philco Pension Agreement; jurisdictional disputes and NLRB elections involving the UE; charges of UE and GE collusion; and consolidation of organization gains within IUE-affiliated locals and districts.