The history of Local-177 of the United Association is the story of many of South Georgia's finest and most skilled tradesmen, striving for half a century to build a better life for themselves, their families, and the communities. The struggle has sometimes been difficult and with great sacrifice, but the members of Local 177 have always strived to maintain dignity, honor, and moral ethics in the affairs. The first fifty years have seen great achievements and give an impression of many more to come. Let us all review our rich past, maintaining an air of optimism as we prepare for the future.
In the late fall of 1942, America was in the midst of war, as was much of the world. The small Coastal town of Brunswick, Georgia had its hands full trying to provide Liberty ships towards the effort. During this time skilled craftsmen were needed to insure proper building techniques for safe and sound war ships. Union organizers had been in the Brunswick Shipyard for sometime, working
towards establishing trade unions in the area. Finally a group of plumbers and steamfitters were granted a charter on December 11, 1942, and a new local union was founded; thus, this date is the birthday of U.A. Local 177. While officially a plumbers and steamfitters charter, the early years gave way to marine fitters and metal tradesmen in order to meet the demand for labor at the shipyard.
Wages at that time were approximately $1.20 per hour, and working conditions were sometimes horrendous. Labor union officers and early organizers struggled to improve working conditions and sometimes needed to call on more experienced help from their brothers out of U .A. Local 188 in Savannah, Georgia. As time went on unions strengthened and membership grew, but many jobs were lost when the war ended and the shipyard, no longer needed, was closed. According to the old-timers who remember these lean years, membership slightly declined until the pulp and paper industry started booming, and skilled tradesmen were needed. Local 177, now a distinguished building trades union, has members· in all phases of maintenance and construction in the pulp mills. Members were involved in the construction of the mill in Jesup from the ground floor up. This mill, commonly known as "Doctor Town", provided a major part of the local's livelihood for several years. Thanks to Gilman Paper in St. Marys, Brunswick Pulp and Paper, and mills in he neighboring jurisdictions, l77's members were able to work most of the time.
Not only did the pulp mills employ our members, but other companies were also working them as well. Plumbing contractors, such as Roebuck, Moses Daniels, Crews, Knights, and Woods were all union and kept many of our brothers working. Hercules Power Company was also a major employer of Local 177's members and, at some times, had as many as half of our people in the plant. In the 1950's and 60's nearly all of our journeymen and apprentices worked there at one time or another. Plant McMannis, a Georgia Power generating plant located in Brunswick, was built in the 1950's and worked all of our members.
What will al ways be remembered as "The Big Job" was the construction of Plant Edwin I. Hatch, Nuclear Power House. We worked all of our members and many, many travelers from the late 60's to the completion of the plant in the late 70's. Today, during the refueling outages, we continue to help maintain Plant Hatch, keeping it to Nuclear Regulatory Commission specifications. This has provided a great deal of work for Local 177.
Another asset to Local 177 was the construction of Kings Bay Naval Base. We have provided the skilled labor for the housing, office buildings, simulator building, dry dock, refit wharfs, and most of the other construction at this site.
Local 177 has always been willing to take any risks needed in order to keep up with the changing times. In the late 1980's our local became known throughout the country for its determined and tireless efforts in helping develop the valve repair program. Having the benefit of this added skill has provided much more work for the United Association.
There have been times in the past fifty years that we have had over 1,000 people working through our local at one time. Local 177, with its outages, major shutdowns, and pulp and paper mill expansions, has provided work for many U.A. members and skilled labor to the union contractors. For the past fifty years our local union has been known for its dedicated and qualified work force. Rich in history and proud of its skilled labor force, U .A. Local 177's commitment will continue, leading us into the 21st century and beyond.
