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History of SEIU Local 7

At the eighteenth annual convention of the American Federation of Labor, which was held in Kansas City, Missouri in 1898, five delegates got together to discuss mutual interests. At that time, December 18, 1898, the International Brotherhood of Stationary Firemen was born. The official charter from the  AFof L was issued January 11, 1899.  Wages averaging seventeen cents an hour, a twelve-hour day, six-day workweek and exhausting physical labor characterized the working conditions when the new national organization came into existence.

The original charter from the AFof L limited the trade jurisdiction to stationary firemen, but in 1919 the charter was expanded to include oilers and helpers in the boiler rooms, and reflecting this expanded jurisdiction, the union was renamed the International Brotherhood of Stationary Firemen and Oilers. As a result of a decision of the Railroad Labor Board during the 1920's, our jurisdiction was further expanded to include roundhouse and railroad shop laborers.

Recognizing this new trade jurisdiction, the AF of L, on June 24,1931, issued a new charter including jurisdiction over "boiler firemen, water tenders, boiler washers, boiler washers helpers, oilers, ash handlers, coal passers, stoker firemen, stoker helpers, roundhouse and railroad shop laborers, utility men and maintenance laborers when employed in and around the boiler and engine room". In order to reflect these changes, the name of the organization was again changed to International Brotherhood of Firemen, Oilers, Helpers, Roundhouse and Railway Shop Laborers.

Local No. 7 received it’s certificate of affiliation with the AF of L on the 13^th day of March, 1899 after being organized in December of 1898.  Firemen and oilers, Local No. 7 was affiliated with the Service Employees International Union in February of 1995.