- Collection:
- Southern Labor Archives
- Title:
- Charlie Key oral history interview, 1995-10
- Creator:
- Key, Charlie
- Contributor to Resource:
- Lutz, Christine
- Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia State University Library
- Date of Original:
- 1995-10
- Subject:
- Labor unions--Officials and employees
Labor unions--Political Activity
Plumbers--Labor unions - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, 33.79025, -84.46702
United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798 - Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
audiocassettes
interviews - Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
- Description:
- Charlie Key was born October 25, 1944 in Anniston, Alabama. A graduate of the Georgia State University Labor Studies Program in 1983, Key began his union career as a job steward for the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 72 in 1968. He later became Vice-President (1978 and 1981), and President (1984-1990, 1993-present) for Local 72. From 1983, he served as Business Manager/Financial Secretary-Treasurer for the Atlanta & North Georgia Building & Construction Trades Council. From 1996 to 1999, Key served as executive Vice-President of the Georgia State AFL-CIO, and in 1999 he was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the organization.
Mr. Key talks about his family’s background in labor unions, their health problems resulting from foundry work, and his early work experiences after quitting high school. He discusses what Atlanta was like when he moved to town in the 1960s. Union politics and labor organizing were central to Key’s membership. He mentions the rivalry and differences between union vs. non-union labor. Concerning race relations, Key discusses the Atlanta Plan for Integrating Trades and the number of women and minorities in Local 72. In his position as President of Pipefitters’ Local 72, Key says, “I felt that we needed to integrate the office of the local. Time to organize females and blacks. I felt we needed to make them feel at home like they were a part of it.” He mentions the good influence of Henry Hollis Key, Staff Representative for the Molders and Allied Workers Union. Key gives his opinions on local and national politics and unions during the preparations for the 1996 Olympics. [These issues are also discussed by Stewart Acuff] - Metadata URL:
- http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/labor/id/6072
- IIIF manifest:
- https://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/iiif/2/labor:6072/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- Copyright to this item is owned by Georgia State University Library. Georgia State University Library has made this item available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. For more information see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: Key, Charlie, interviewed by Chris Lutz, October 1995, Voices of Labor Oral History Project, Southern Labor Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University.
- Extent:
- 01:50:27
- Original Collection:
- Voices of Labor Oral History Project
http://research.library.gsu.edu/VoicesofLabor
Southern Labor Archives - Holding Institution:
- Georgia State University. Special Collections
- Rights:
-
