ABOUT US
We are very proud of the history of this local. In 1917 the first union
in the oil industry to endure developed out of a strike, when oil
workers in what is now known as Taft struck over the 8-hour
workday. In those days, our union was called "Oilfield Workers
Union" and our original charter, dated April 2, 1917 still hangs in our
union hall. In 1955, OCAW, Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers, was
formed from the merger of the United Gas and Chemical Workers
and the Oil Workers International Union. In 1972, the UPIU, United
Paper Workers International Union was created by the merger of four
former international unions. In 1999, the merger of UPIU and OCAW
created the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers
International Union (PACE). PACE is affiliated with the AFL-CIO
(American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial
Organizations). For its membership north of the border, PACE is
affiliated with the CLC (Canadian Labour Congress) this links PACE
members with more than 16 million union workers on the north
American Continent. Local 8-6 and more than 1,500 locals in the
U.S. and Canada with over 320,000 members from the international
union. Then, on April 14, 2005, USWA and PACE had the foresight,
vision and wisdom to seize the arc of destiny and move it in the
direction of preserving the future for all industrial workers and their
families. On that day, PACE and the USWA created the largest, most
powerful, fastest growing and democratic industrial union in North
America: the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber,
Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers
International Union (known as USW), with over 850,000 members.