ILGWU Management Engineering Department Records, 1941-1982
Collection Number: 5780/118

Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
ILGWU Management Engineering Department Records, 1941-1982
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/118
Abstract:
This collection consists of records of the Management-Engineering Department of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Materials include files on clothing and textile manufacturers.
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Quanitities:
1.5 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English

Biographical / Historical

The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States founded in 1900 by local union delegates representing about 2,000 members in cities in the northeastern United States. It was one of the first U.S. Unions to have a membership consisting of mostly females, and it played a key role in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s. The union is generally referred to as the "ILGWU" or the "ILG". The ILGWU grew in geographical scope, membership size, and political influence to become one of the most powerful forces in American organized labor by mid-century. Representing workers in the women's garment industry, the ILGWU worked to improve working and living conditions of its members through collective bargaining agreements, training programs, health care facilities, cooperative housing, educational opportunities, and other efforts. The ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union in 1995 to form the Union of Needle trades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE). UNITE merged with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) in 2004 to create a new union known as UNITE HERE. The two unions that formed UNITE in 1995 represented only 250,000 workers between them, down from the ILGWU's peak membership of 450,000 in 1969.

Biographical / Historical

Created in 1941, the Management Engineering Department was charged with assisting in the improvement of manufacturing techniques and operating methods, as well as providing information on "fair rate pieces," monitoring manufacturing techniques, and providing trainings to workers on efficient operations. Improvements to techniques and methods were made by first observing the ways that operations in the manufacturing of women's garments were executed, and then making recommendations to create efficiencies. The Management-Engineering Department collected information, produced these time and motion studies, and used both to help determine piece rates and develop worker training.
William Gomberg, who had previous worked as a collective bargaining agent with the ILGWU, served as the department's first director 1956. Gomberg eventually became a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, thus his papers are housed at the University of Pennsylvania's University Archives and Records Center: http://www.archives.upenn.edu/faids/upt/upt50/gombergwm.html

The records of the Management Engineering Department range from its founding in 1941 to 1980. Included are reports on operations at in specific shops and industries, reports to the General Executive Board about the department's activities, and related materials.
The department's records are not extensive, and do not provide particularly strong documentation of the Management Engineering Department's work. Researchers interested in more information about the Management Engineering Department and its activities may consult reports to the ILGWU international conventions.
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference archivist for access to these materials.
Conditions Governing Use

This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and Procedures for Document Use.

INFORMATION FOR USERS

Preferred Citation

ILGWU Management Engineering Department Records #5780/118. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

Related Materials

Related Collections: 5780: ILGWU records

SUBJECTS

Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Management-Engineering Dept.
Subjects:
Women's clothing industry -- United States
Clothing workers--Labor unions--United States.
Clothing workers -- United States
Industrial relations -- United States

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Box 1 Folder 1
Report to the Education Committee of the General Executive Board
1979
Box 1 Folder 2
Convention
1980
Box 1 Folder 3
NACLA Report
1979
Box 1 Folder 4
Select Commission on Immigration and Refuge Policy
1980
Box 1 Folder 5
Conditions in the Women's Garment Industry
1979-1980
Box 1 Folder 6
Management Engineering Department
1979
Box 1 Folder 7
Management Engineering Department
1980
Box 1 Folder 8
Dressmakers Union - Local 22
1961
Box 1 Folder 9
Training Program
1977
Box 1 Folder 10
Wilbur Daniels: Memorandum
1978
Box 1 Folder 11
TEECO Tangle Automated Systems, Inc.
1974
Box 1 Folder 12
Industrial Engineering
1977
Box 1 Folder 13
Job Satisfaction/Job Performance
1977
Box 1 Folder 14
Exquisite Form
1969
Box 1 Folder 15
Survey of Typical Equipment
1955
Scope and Contents
July 1, 1955
Box 1 Folder 16
Management Engineering Department
1963-1982
Box 1 Folder 17
Management Engineering Department
1963-1980
Box 1 Folder 18
Management Engineering Department
1963-1980
Box 1 Folder 19
Management Engineering Department
1963-1980
Box 1 Folder 20
National Commission on Productivity and Work Quality
1974-1975
Box 1 Folder 21
Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union
1977
Scope and Contents
May 9, 1977
Box 1 Folder 22
Productivity and Incentives
1977-1978
Box 1 Folder 23
Productivity and Incentives
1977
Box 2 Folder 1
Management Engineering Department Report to General Executive Board; Activities of the Department
1977
Box 2 Folder 2
Report to General Executive Board; Activities of the Department
1969
Box 2 Folder 3
Memorandum
1975
Box 2 Folder 4
Management Engineering Department Report to General Executive Board; Activities of the Department
1965
Box 2 Folder 5
Belle Knitting Mills
1941
Box 2 Folder 6
Report of the Management Engineering Department to the General Executive Board
1946
Box 2 Folder 7
Report of Studies Taken at the Dutchess Manufacturing Company
1942
Box 2 Folder 8
Daisy Sportswear
1942
Box 2 Folder 9
Report on the Progress of the "Section-Work" System Experiment at the K.U. Dress and Lillian Dress Companies in New York
1942
Box 2 Folder 10
Study of Mary Muffet, Inc.
1941
Box 2 Folder 11
Blossom Products Corp.
1942
Scope and Contents
March 9, 1942
Box 2 Folder 12
Preliminary Investigation of Methods of Production of Lady Youth Company
1941
Box 2 Folder 13
Globe Underwear Corp.
1941
Box 2 Folder 14
Belle Knitting Mills Report: Management Engineering Department
1941
Box 2 Folder 15
Summary Report of Findings at Nardis Sporstwear, Inc.
1942
Box 2 Folder 16
Preliminary Report; Management Engineering Department
1942
Box 2 Folder 17
Preliminary Report on Appalachian Knitting Mills
1941
Box 2 Folder 18
Study of Mode O' Day Corporation
1941
Box 2 Folder 19
Report on Real Silk Hosiery Mills
1942
Scope and Contents
September 18, 1942
Box 2 Folder 20
Preliminary Study of Operations Performed in the Shoulder Pad Industry
1942
Box 2 Folder 21
Report on Dress Department of Carson, Pierie, Scott and Company
1942
Scope and Contents
June 22, 1942
Box 2 Folder 22
Preliminary Report of Studies Made at Mayflower Dress Company for Peter Detlefsen
1942
Scope and Contents
July 14, 1942
Box 2 Folder 23
The Work-Time Distribution
1945
Box 2 Folder 24
American Cyanamid Company
1958-1976
Box 2 Folder 25
Relationship Between Unions and Engineers
1943