Collections

The Public Employees Federation (PEF) was founded in 1979 to represent members of the Professional, Scientific, and Technical (PS&T) bargaining unit of New York State. PS&T employees had formerly been represented by CSEA, the state's largest public employee union. PEF founders believed that the concerns of the PS&T unit were not adequately represented by CSEA, the majority of whose members were non-professional state employees. PEF's stated mission is to "provide the leadership necessary for PEF members to achieve employment security, higher wages, better working conditions, and improved retirement benefits." Materials in this collection document PEF activities at both the state and division level. There is extensive coverage of executive board activities from 1978 through mid-2000, annual conventions, committee meetings, and contract negotiations. Also included are files for PEF Division 169, PEF's Environmental Conservation Division. These include correspondence, agendas and minutes for labor/management meetings, material on committees, and administrative files. This collection also documents the activities of reform groups and political parties within PEF (most notably, the Statewide Coalition for a Democratic Union) and PEF's relationships with its national affiliates, the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Teachers. Particularly strong is the collection of bulletin board postings, which includes almost everything posted on Division 169 PEF bulletin boards from 1979 through 2000. There are also official PEF publications, including a near-complete run of PEF's official monthly newsletter to members, The Communicator.

This collection contains records of the Pension Rights Center.

The Ralph Boyd, Sr. Papers contain personal and professional correspondence, news clippings, work manuals and agendas that document his career as a General Electric employee, community activist and member of the Schenectady branch of the NAACP.

The Robert D. Helsby Papers include materials that document his work as first chair of the New York State Public Employment Relations Board from 1967-1977 and include publications on labor relations, New York's Taylor Law and collective bargaining.

Includes records of the Schenectady Area Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, group of trade union locals, and its predecessor organizations:.

The City Teachers Association of Schenectady was founded in 1918 to promote standards of professionalism in teaching. The group was chartered as a union, the Schenectady Federation of Teachers, in 1944. Local 803 went on strike in 1975 in violation of the NYS Taylor Law. The local is affiliated with New York State United Teachers, American Federation of Teachers.

The Sheet Metal Workers International Association, Local 83 Records document the day-to-day operations of the union from the years 1892-1984 using meeting minutes and other documents refrenced in the minutes including correspondence, treasurer's reports, newsletters and strike bulletins.

The Greyhound Strikers Solidarity Committee of the Capital District was created by Albany-area labor union activists in support of the autumn 1983 Amalgamated Transit Union strike against Greyhound Bus Lines. After the strike, the group was reconstituted as the Solidarity Committee of the Capital District (SCCD) and worked to support hundreds of strikes and labor activities in Eastern New York, across the country, and in Latin America.

The Glove Cities Area Joint Board of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) was founded in Gloversville, N.Y., 1954. This Joint Board originally had jurisdiction over the clothing workers unions in Gloversville and Johnstown, N.Y., and nearby villages. These locals were primarily locals of glove and leather goods workers.

Documents an association of labor unions in or near Troy, NY.