- Collection:
- Southern Labor Archives
- Title:
- Barron Watkins oral history interview, 1995-07-05
- Creator:
- Watkins, Barron
- Contributor to Resource:
- Lutz, Christine
- Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia State University Library
- Date of Original:
- 1995-07-05
- Subject:
- Printers--Labor unions
Labor organizing
Labor unions--Mergers - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Cherokee County, 34.24393, -84.4762
- Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
audiocassettes
interviews - Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
- Description:
- Barron Watkins was born on October 6, 1923 in Cherokee County, Georgia. During the course of his career he was a member of the International Brotherhood of Bookbinders (IBB) union, and later the International Printing Pressman and Assistants Union (IPPAU). In the mid-1980s the Pressman’s Union merged with the Graphics Communication International Union (GCIU), after which Watkins continued to be a member. His career in these unions included his election as President of IPPAU Local 527 in 1957, Secretary-Treasurer-Business Agent of the Local from 1959 to 1965, and Business Agent of the District Council.
Watkins discusses some of his personal background and then jumps into the topic of employers creating retirement programs after World War II. He says his experience in the labor movement began in 1942 when he joined the Bookbinders Union. By 1951 the workers of Follett Paper switched allegiance and became members of the Pressman’s Union. He talks about working for the Pressman’s International in the 1970s. Watkins believes the technological changes in the printing industry mean a loss of craftsmanship. On the need for consolidation of labor unions, Watkins says, “You can’t play one group against the other. So, yes, we need only one labor organization. That is all we needed. But we need to represent all working people.” He states his beliefs on the necessity of organizing labor and discusses the problems he and others faced in organizing Montag (Mead). - Metadata URL:
- http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/labor/id/6081
- IIIF manifest:
- https://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/iiif/2/labor:6081/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-NonCommerical-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. For more information, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: Watkins, Barron, interviewed by Chris Lutz, July 5, 1995, Voices of Labor Oral History Project, Southern Labor Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University.
- Extent:
- 01:28:40
- 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:
-
