ONE GREAT UNION: PACE History

Since the 1980s the UPIU and the OCAW have worked together to provide a progressive voice inside the AFL-CIO and internationally. Both unions have been leaders in the effort to internationalize their own members' campaigns and to render assistance to unions abroad.

When it became clear in the mid-1990s that new leadership was needed in the AFL-CIO, both unions stepped up to the plate to promote the change. Both played important roles in electing the Sweeney/Trumka/Chavez-Thompson team to the labor federation's helm in 1995.

In 1996 the two unions began to talk seriously about merger, continuing a discussion that had begun in 1979. Intensive talks through 1997 and 1998 resulted in a workable plan to combine their forces. On Jan. 4, 1999, both unions came together in simultaneous conventions, and both approved the merger by voice vote.

On that day, PACE was born as a vibrant new union committed to organizing new members, serving its current members and bringing about a better world for workers everywhere.