Employee/Personnel Records

The Employee Relations Department, also known as the Industrial Relations Department, administered benefits programs, handled personnel and training matters, and employee communications through house organs such as the Western Union News. The Employee Benefits Plan Booklets, 1912-1971, tell the story of Western Union pensions and benefits plans. Established in 1913, the plan for employees' pensions, disability benefits, and death benefits was a comprehensive non-contributory plan. This plan appears to have experienced several names changes from "Provisional Pension Plan" to "Plan for Employees Pensions Disability Benefits and Insurance" to Plan for Employees Pensions Disability Benefits and Death Benefits." One booklet, dated 1929, pertains specifically to the Postal Telegraph Cable Company. Employee Stock Subscription plan materials (1914-1928) include correspondence and printed plans. The correspondence and the plans themselves set forth the regulations and restrictions for employees to purchase stock. Employee Wage Cards, 1914-1922, consist of twelve shoeboxes. These records were maintained by the Western Union Cable System. They are arranged according to "live" and "dead" files, European side, North American Side, and Cable Office Errors. The records are then divided by geographic location (Ballenskelligs, Bay Roberts, Canso, Duxbury, Glasgow, Halifax, Hammels, Havre, Hearts Content, London Training School, London Western Union House, Liverpool, Manchester, North Sydney, Paris, Penzance, Penzance Training School, Rye Beach, St. Pierre, and Valentia.). The geographic locations are divided by job titles. Within job titles, the cards are arranged alphabetically by surname. There are two types of cards-an employee wage card and an employee service card. Both cards contain the same type of information--first name, surname, date of birth, sex, station employed at, dates of employment, title, monthly rating, special monthly payments, special allowances if any, and general remarks--but they differ in size. Remarks typically contained information about a death, resignation, drawing pensions, or job performance. Minutes of Employee' Benefits Fund Committee, 1912-1949, consist of reviewed applications for sickness and accident disability benefits, life insurance, and pensions. The committee also determined the applicability of the plan to employees in special circumstances. Western Union established the committee following its 1913 adoption of the Plan for Employees' Pensions, Disability Benefits and Death Benefits as a comprehensive non-contributory plan. The first five volumes (volumes A to E) are indexed with each book. Minutes for the periods July 1920 to May 1925 or January 1937 to March 1942 do not exist. Job Classification, Contracts, and Agreements, 1966-1973, consists of six handbooks. These handbooks contain wage schedules, job titles, job descriptions, and pertinent employee information set forth in the official contract with Western Union. There is one handbook that deals specifically with an agreement between Western Union and the Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO. The American School of Correspondence, 1911-1921 subseries consists of published "instruction papers" on a variety of topics such as Banking and Banking Law, Direct Current Motors and Telegraph Repeaters. The "instruction papers" were prepared by Western Union divisions such as the Engineering Department or the Commercial Department and faculty members at various colleges and universities in the United States. Service Records, 1883-1931, consists of four oversized bound volumes numbered one to four; one miscellaneous volume from 1907-1931, and service cards for seamen who served on various cable ships. These bound service records are organized alphabetically according to the name of city and/or town. For example, Grand Fork, North Dakota is followed by Great Falls, Montana. The majority of cities and towns represented are located in the mid west. An alphabetical index of cities for each volume precedes the records. These records, like the employee wage cards, provide similar information--name of office, date office opened, date office closed, name of employee, designation of occupation, rate of pay, date employed, date left service, and remarks. The smaller miscellaneous volume, 1907-1931, is also arranged alphabetically by city/town, but contain only the name of the employee and what appears to be the date employment began. The volume deals with personnel serving in California and Arizona. The service cards, 1921-1922, are arranged alphabetically by cable ship name. The cards contain the name of the seaman, address (name of the cable ship), date of service, date salary became effective, job title, and rate of salary per month. Employee Clippings contains employee signatures/autographs which consist of two small volumes of collected employee signatures, one dating 1871-1898, the other 1909-1949. The latter volume of signatures appears to be have been assembled for the purposes of the Western Union Museum. The signatures include a wide variety of employees, from presidents to telegraph operators. *Researchers should consult Series 27: Notebooks, Subseries 7, for an employee work diary of 1942.