This collection documents Tonie Jones' activities as a union steward and her work in organizing women office workers. The resource material files contain a number of articles and pamphlets about union organizing written by and about women. The collection also contains 11 cartons of unprocessed additions collected by Jones while she served as Local 3 steward. Materials include safety and health committee information, union election documents, union meeting minutes, Labor Council minutes, union newsletters and publications, union organizing material, trustee reports, Finance Committee documents, and Women's Committee documents.

The Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) began as a "union's union." In 1904 the American Federation of Labor (AFL) started granting affiliated charters to clerical workers in the offices of trade unions and began referring to the new unions as "federal labor unions." The organization of clerical workers in trade union offices was quite sucessful. The workers were eager to organize, and the officials of the unions usually offered no resistance. Two years after the election, on 19 February 1974, Tonie Jones began working at Blue Shield. In addition to her job at Blue Shield, she held a number of positions in the union, most notably union steward. She actively fought for the rights of employees, at times contesting the actions of the Union as well as those of the Company; for example, she sought to have the election of Local 3 officers overturned in 1977. She appealed to the office of the International Union and the U.S. Department of Labor. Her work as a steward brought written warnings, denial of promotions, and other forms of pressure from the Company, but she continued her activities. Jones served on negotiating, staff, and trustee committees, organized get-out-the-vote drives, and constructed internal networks at Blue Shield, among other duties. She was an advocate for women's rights and, at an Executive Board Meeting of Local 3 in 1977, she and other union members introduced resolutions to support the Equal Rights Amendment and the establishment of women's committees to address issues and rights of working women. The Local passed the resolutions.

18.75 Cubic Feet (14 boxes)

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Collection is open for research.