We are very proud of the history of this local. In 1917 the first union in the oil industry to endure developed out of a strike, when oil workers in what is now known as Taft struck over the 8-hour workday. In those days, our union was called "Oilfield Workers Union" and our original charter, dated April 2, 1917 still hangs in our union hall. In 1955, CAW, Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers, was formed from the merger of the United Gas and Chemical Workers and the Oil Workers International Union. In 1972, the UPIU, United Paper Workers International Union was created by the merger of four former International unions. In 1999, the merger of UPIU and OCAW created the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International Union (PACE). PACE is affiliated with the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations).

     For its membership north of the border, PACE is affiliated with the CLC (Canadian Labour Congress) this links PACE members with more than 16 million union workers on the north American Continent. Local 8-6 and more than 1,500 locals in the U.S. and Canada with over 320,000 members from the international union. Then, on April 14, 2005, USWA and PACE had the foresight, vision and wisdom to seize the arc of destiny and move it in the direction of preserving the future for all industrial workers and their families. On that day, PACE and the USWA created the largest, most powerful, fastest growing and democratic industrial union in North America: the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (known as USW), with over 850,000 members.