Through Merger with Papermakers, Chemical Workers' Union becomes PACE

The final ratification of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International (OCAW) and the United Paperworkers International Union occurred during a joint convention on Jan. 5 in Las Vegas, NV. The new union is named PACE, the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers Intl. Union. ``We chose this name because it represents all our members, including those from the Allied Industrial Workers (AIW),'' said Boyd Young, until now the Paperworkers' president, and now the first president of the combination. The AIW merged into the UPIU in 1994. OCAW President Robert Wages is now the executive vice president of PACE. He will be involved in the union's organizing program and will continue to coordinate national oil bargaining.

PACE will represent 320,000 workers, mostly in the U.S. The UPIU and the AIW bring PACE members in pulp, paper, automobile parts, appliance manufacturing and a wide variety of other industries. Cement workers from the Independent Workers of North America affiliated with the UPIU in 1991. The OCAW's contribution includes members in oil, chemical manufacturing, nuclear energy, pharmaceuticals and a variety of related industries. UPIU brings the great majority of members to PACE—250,000, to roughly 80,000 from OCAW. PACE will be headquartered in Nashville, TN.

The highest priority of the new union will be organizing membership drives, according to OCAW statements. Young has stated that he intends to bring 6,000 new members per year into the union, and to spend 15% of the union's funds on organizing. "Environmental justice," the involvement of workers and communities in plant location issues, and trade and employment issues revolving around NAFTA are other priorities.

By Nick Basta