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Alliance@IBM CWA Local 1701 http://www.allianceibm.org
Alliance@IBM was formally chartered through the Communications Workers of America , in the year 1999. Alliance@IBM formed as a result of the continued firings of IBM employees; as well as the pension plan changes that took away full 'defined benefit' pensions from IBM employees with less than 25 years of IBM service.

IBM or International Business Machines, began as an incorporated company in June of 1911. The company established its avoidance of labor unions early, and successfully did so by modeling their treatment of their workers, after union benefits and wages.

IBM was known for its lavish treatment of employees that included a pension plan, a medical and hospitalization plan, and country club memberships. IBM held parties for its retirees; and a worker's manager always made sure to visit him or her in the hospital and bring fruit baskets and their paycheck when they visited employees who were ill.

IBM was staunchly anti-union; but quietly avoided confrontation if there were rumors of any union organizing within the IBM company; especially in their manufacturing plants.

One unsubstantiated story relates an incident on a machine shop floor in IBM, in the 1950's or early 1960's. Someone in the machine shop area at the time, released a windup mouse with wheels on the floor that had sign attached that said, simply "IAM". This was interpreted as meaning the "International Association of Machinists" union. According to the story, IBM managers were quietly calm about it, but behind closed doors they fretted very much that they would have to deal with a union organizing campaign. It is unclear, what if anything the IBM management team did to quell that movement, if there even was one. It is, however, an example of how preciously IBM protected their non-union status, so as to be deeply concerned about a mechanical mouse running around the machine shop floor.

IBM faired quite well during its beginning tenure, through WWII and the four decades past WWII. They were as though the 'Hare' of the technology race during that time. Their development and manufacture of computer mainframes was untouchable up to the 1980's decade. At that time, other entrepreneurial ventures from other companies began to emerge. Japan (Hitachi) endeavored to compete in the main frame sector with IBM; and personal computers arrived on the scene that appealed to international consumers as much as they did to international business.

IBM's new found competition ignited IBM's executive management to task. Cost-cutting became the most heralded strategy during engineering and production meetings, throughout the company. Even though IBM did jump into the PC market, they weren't cut out for the fast-paced innovation and improvement of hardware and software development that came with PC's.

IBM also had bloated their workforce during the 1970's, when there was no competition in their field. All this began to change in the late 1980's. IBM accelerated their need to reduce the workforce and cut 'fat' from their selected divisions of employees. They forced attrition, early retirements, and in 1994 IBM's first 'layoff'. This was a shock to communities all over the US. "How can IBM do this to me?" was the repeated refrain. As the layoffs increased, so did the resistance internally.

Alliance@IBM had a predecessor within the walls of many of the IBM USA plants; IBM Workers United. It was a small group of employees; but nevertheless determined to grow the demand for a union contract between the IBM company and the employees. Fliers and handouts were distributed by college students, out side on public property, because there was a great deal of fear among the IBMWU members that they would be fired for organizing.

In 1984 the IBMWU's lead organizer went public. Prior to his emergence from the underground, he went by the name "Mike Maguire" as a tribute to Molly Maguire of a different era. However, Lee Conrad decided to remove that veil of secrecy and step forward to openly challenge IBm at every turn. His motive was simple. Force IBM to be public about layoffs, working conditions, overtime, pay scale, job title and description..to name a few.

IBM did not take kindly to Conrad's public scrutiny and criticism.

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