Our History

OPEIU (International)

From its founding, OPEIU International has been at the forefront of the fight to help professionals and office workers attain the wages, benefits, and workplace conditions all working people need and deserve. OPEIU nurses, clerks, government workers, nonprofit staff, accountants, librarians, manufacturing workers, bank tellers, museum and university employees, engineers, pilots, umpires, teachers, social workers, and more are leading the fight for a better standard of living in the industries in which we work.

Nearly 80 years ago, we received our charter from the American Federation of Labor, establishing what was then called the Office Employees International Union (OEIU) as the premier union for white-collar professionals. Today, the 103,000 members of OPEIU work in a variety of sectors, in all fifty states as well as Canada and Puerto Rico.

OPEIU Local 39

OPEIU Local 39 was founded in 1945 with our first bargaining unit at CUNA Mutual Group Life Insurance (CMG) company, now called TruStage. CMG is a large employer in Madison, WI that develops and provides life insurance products and financial services to members of credit unions across the country. CMG has been transformed and prospered for 80 years due to the hard work and commitment of its employees, our union members.

Local 39 is one of several first locals to charter with Office and Professional Employees International Union. We are a progressive labor union that represents workers and working families in the Midwest, East and West Coasts with a strong understanding of the needs of workers in professional office settings in fields of insurance, investment, finance, technology (IT), utilities, medical fields such as hospitals and labs, heavy industry, non-profits, and universities and colleges.Nearly 80 years ago, we received our charter from the American Federation of Labor, establishing what was then called the Office Employees International Union (OEIU) as the premier union for white-collar professionals. Today, the 103,000 members of OPEIU work in a variety of sectors, in all fifty states as well as Canada and Puerto Rico.