Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union
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| Full name | Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1918 |
| Date dissolved | January 4, 1999 |
| Merged into | Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union |
| Members | 80,000 |
| Affiliation |
American Federation of Labor (1918-1955) AFL-CIO (1955-merger) |
| Country | United States |
The Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW) was a trade union in the United States which existed between 1917 and 1999. At the time of its dissolution and merger, the International represented 80,000 workers and was affiliated with the AFL-CIO.
The union was first originally established as the International Association of Oil Field, Gas Well, and Refinery Workers of America in 1918 after a major strike in the Texas oil fields in late 1917, which led to numerous amounts of mortalities. It affiliated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL) when they granted the occurrence of local unions of oil workers at a convention held in El Paso, TX and officially set up the international union for oil workers in 1918. Beginning with only 25 members, the newly established union underwent much success in the first few years of establishment. In just a few years they were already organizing and negotiating well thought out contacts that would affect thousands of oil workers in only three states California, Texas, and Oklahoma.
Its membership grew to 30,000 as the oil industry grew rapidly in the United States in 1921, which was considered their first high peak but the Great Depression reduced its ranks to just 350 in the beginning of 1933. WIth the several local unions that had been established, only one local – LB local 128- managed to not miss a single meeting. The union began to increase in size and activity again once the NRA was passed in 1933. The NRA, under the New Deal, guaranteed the right of workers to organize. At the end of 1933, and even through the depression, several thousands of oil workers joined and rejoined the union and dispersed into several dozen locals. At this point being a part of the union became really important for the oil industry.
In 1937, the union changed its name to the Oil Workers International Union (OWIU). The union was one of the first that affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization in early 1938, and AFL President William Green revoked the union's AFL charter.
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