The files of Teamsters Local 70 are divided into four series: Teamsters Local 70, Teamsters Local 515 (Oakland chauffeurs' union), International Brotherhood of Teamsters material, and non-Teamsters material.

International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 70, of Oakland, California, was chartered in 1901. In the first decade of the twentieth century, the East Bay lagged behind San Francisco in population (Oakland, Berkeley, and Alameda combined had less than 100,000 residents in 1900 while San Francisco boasted three-and-a-half times that) and organized labor activity. Many East Bay laborers commuted to San Francisco each morning or were scattered in small, hard-to-organize industries. Moreover, Oakland lacked San Francisco's tradition of union militancy and its cadre of experienced labor leaders. East Bay unions were typically smaller, less organized, and less likely to strike than their San Francisco counterparts. 1 This was true for Oakland-based Teamsters Local 70 when contrasted with its San Francisco counterpart, Local 85, which was charted in August 1900.

Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives & Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote from materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Labor Archives & Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Collection is open for research.