Fox Valley District Council of Laborers
In the late forties and fifties not many building trades
locals had fulltime agents in the Fox Valley area.
Locals would pay a per capita fee to the building trades and the
building trades had one business agent who would check jobs for
all the trades.
The Appleton Laborers' were one of the few locals at the time that had a fulltime business agent.
Monthly meetings were held in the evening at the Fox Valley District Council of Laborers. Two delegates from each laborers local in the Fox Valley were assigned to attend these meetings and make reports.
I served as delegate from the Fond du Lac area. Bill Raatz from Appleton served as Secretary/Treasurer and fulltime business agent for the District Council. Wally Ducate from Green Bay served as President.
As time progressed, Danny LaShay from Fond du Lac worked as business agent for the Fond du Lac Building Trades and then became fulltime business agent of Laborers' Local #1086. Years later, the Oshkosh and Fond du Lac locals merged, and Wally Ducate became the agent for the Green Bay Laborers.
We felt a District Council was important because it gave us a better understanding of all locals in regard to contract negotiations and the movement of men from one job area to another.
As the Council grew, so did the reasons for moving the office from Oshkosh to Madison. This move made the office more centrally located in the state and gave the President of the Council a closer tie to the legislators in the Capitol.