Data sources

There were three data sources that contributed to the enumeration of the study population

for this investigation: 1) UAW employment records, 2) UAW-Chrysler pension records, and 3)

the UAW pension information system. All of these data sources originated from the UAW,

however, the first two have been maintained by a study collaborator at NIOSH since 1994. Data

from all three sources were received on October 11th 2016.

UAW employment records (magnetic tape storage)

The study population was first identified in historical employment records collected by

the UAW. In 1967, the UAW entered contractual agreements with Chrysler that required the

company to provide the UAW with employment records for all UAW members actively

employed by Chrysler in the United States. The records were generated by management at the

automotive companies through the administrative process for collecting union dues. The records

were sent to the UAW biannually on magnetic reel-to-reel tapes. Members of the UAW Health &

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staff. The tapes were last updated in 1993 and subsequently transferred from UAW offices

(Solidarity House) in Detroit, Michigan to the Education and Information Division at NIOSH

headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Employment records for all years (1967 to 1993) were

transferred, except for 1971, as the tape for this year was lost in UAW file management. In 2014,

NIOSH initiated the conversion of UAW employment records from magnetic tape storage to a

digital format. The conversion was performed by an external data management firm (Iron

Mountain) that provided all employment records to NIOSH in a digital file that was later

converted to a SAS data set by NIOSH staff.

The newly created digital file contained employment history on approximately 311,000

individuals employed for any duration at any Chrysler-owned plant in the United States from

1967-1970 and 1972-1993. This file is referred to as the Chrysler global work history file. The

file contains information on work history for each individual, including year and month of

company first hire, plant code of employment (yearly), department of employment (yearly),

skilled trade job code, and the year the job code first appeared (up to 1993). The file also lists the

social security number, first five letters of the last name, first name initial, birth date, and sex as

unique identifiers of each individual. The study population for this investigation was enumerated

from this file.

UAW-Chrysler pension records (magnetic tape storage)

In addition to employment records, a separate agreement required Chrysler to provide

company-generated pension records to the UAW. These records were also stored on magnetic

reel-to-reel tapes and were created for years 1987 to 1993. The UAW Health & Safety

Department managed these records and transferred them to NIOSH in 1994 along with the

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The file contains pension information for some individuals listed in the Chrysler global work

history file, including retirement code, retirement status, last known state of residence, date of

death, last plant worked, seniority date, credited service date (date of hire for pension calculation

if there were gaps in employment), and date of termination. The file also contains identifiable

information including social security number, full first name, middle initial, and full last name.

The pension file was linked with the Chrysler global work history file by NIOSH staff using

social security number. Name information from the UAW-Chrysler pension records was used to

supplement missing or incomplete information in the Chrysler global work history file. However,

pension data from this source were available for only 7% of the study population and several

variables had a high proportion of missing data.

UAW pension information system (digital database)

The UAW pension information system is a computerized database of information on

active and inactive UAW members. The pension information system contains demographic, vital

status, and employment information on most UAW members who were receiving UAW pension

benefits as of 2000 (approximate), or who are actively employed but are not yet receiving

pension benefits.

UAW staff at Solidarity House in Detroit, Michigan linked records from their pension

information system with the UAW employment and historical pension records provided by

NIOSH. The linkage was done to provide additional and updated data on individuals in the

historical files. I met with UAW staff at Solidarity House prior to the linkage to obtain details of

the linkage process and determine what information was available in the pension system. This

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Prior to the linkage, records in the system were updated with the latest name, birth date,

sex, and race information from company (Chrysler, Ford, General Motors) active employee and

pension files, the Local Union Information System (LUIS), and the American Federation of

Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) COPE file (Committee on Political

Education). UAW staff also updated the deceased status of records through a query of the most

recent version of the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).

Once all updates of the UAW pension information system were complete, the system was

able to provide the social security number, full first name, middle initial, full last name, previous

first name, previous middle initial, previous last name, birth date, death date, seniority date, sex,

race, last known state of residence, SSDI full name, SSDI birth date, and SSDI death date on

UAW members listed in the employment and historical pension records held at NIOSH.