International Fur and Leather Workers Union Additional Records, 1913-1972
Collection Number: 5924
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
International Fur and Leather Workers Union Additional Records, 1913-1972
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5924
Creator:
International Fur and Leather Workers Union
Quanitities:
1 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
The International Fur Workers Union was founded on June 16, 1913, by the delegates
of eight American Federation of Labor unions representing 14,000 workers in all branches
of the fur trade.
During the 1920's the union was characterized by internal corruption, factional fighting,
and heavy-handed leadership. Oranized crime gained a foothold in the New York fur
district. Led by Ben Gold, chairman of the New York Joint Board, the radical element
began a determined campaign to drive the gangsters out. This effort culminated in
a strike which began on February 11, 1926.
The four month strike was largely successful. Nevertheless, the leadership of the
International Fur Workers Union sought to expel Ben Gold. A January 27, 1927 decision
by the American Federation of Labor's Executive Council authorized President William
Green to appoint a special committee "to rid the [New York City Joint Board] of its
Communist leadership."
During the next seven years Ben Gold and his followers waged a determined battle
to regain their positions within the union. Finally, in May of 1935, with the union's
right wing discredited by its connection with organized crime, Gold was named president.
Three years later he once again led the fur workers out on strike. This time, the
manufacturers were forced to sign an industry-wide collective agreement.
In 1937, the International Fur Workers Union left the American Federation of Labor
and joined the C.I.O., lending support to the campaign for industrial unionism. In
1940, the International Fur Workers Union merged with the National Leather Workers'
Association to form the Fur and Leather Workers Union; the new union began a campaign
to organize the tanneries of Pennsylvania and the midwest.
During World War II, the union implemented the Fur Vest Project, producing 50,000
vests for America's merchant seamen. A no-strike pledge guaranteed labor-management
peace.
In 1948, while most labor unions were supporting President Harry Truman and his cold
war policies, the Fur and Leather Workers endorsed Henry Wallace's Progressive Party.
Wallace, who had been Vice President in Roosevelt's third term, ran for President
on a platform that stressed the need for peace, full employment and a continuation
of the New Deal tradition. The Wallace campaign widened the breach within the C.I.O.
and isolated the Fur and Leather Workers on the left.
McCarthyism and anti-Communist hysteria threw the labor movement on the defensive
during the late 1940's and early 1950's. In 1950, the Fur and Leather Workers were
expelled from the C.I.O. Ben Gold was forced to resign as President after he was accused
of perjuring himself by signing a non-Communist Taft-Hartley affadavit.
In 1955, the union merged with the Amalgamated Butchers and Meat Cutters of North
America. As part of this organization, the Joint Board Fur, Leather and Machine Workers'
Union has continued in the progressive tradition. In the 1960's and 1970's it played
active roles in both the civil rights and peace movements.
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference
archivist for access to these materials.
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and
Procedures for Document Use.
INFORMATION FOR USERS
International Fur and Leather Workers Union Additional Records #5924. Kheel Center
for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Names:
International Fur and Leather Workers Union of the United States and Canada
Subjects:
Fur workers -- Labor unions
Leather workers -- Labor unions
CONTAINER LIST
|
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
| Box 1 | Folder 1a |
Newspaper Clippings, Local 21 Peabody, MA Secession Incident [folder 1 of 3]
|
1939 |
| Box 1 | Folder 1b |
Newspaper Clippings, Local 21 Peabody, MA Secession Incident [folder 2 of 3]
|
1939 |
| Box 1 | Folder 1c |
Newspaper Clippings, Local 21 Peabody, MA Secession Incident [folder 3 of 3]
|
1939 |
| Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Scrap Book of Newspaper Clippings RE: Local 21 Peabody, MA Secession
|
1939-1943 |
| Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Scrap Book of Clippings RE: Local 21 Peabody, MA Secession + 1 photograph
|
1944 |
| Box 1 | Folder 4 |
Scrapbook of Clippings RE: Local 21 Peabody, MA Secession
|
1943 |
| Box 1 | Folder 5 |
Scrapbook of Clippings RE: Local 21 Peabody, MA Secession
|
1944 |
| Box 2 | Folder 1 |
Convention Minutes
|
1915-1938 |
| Box 2 | Folder 2 |
General Newspaper Clippings
|
1864-1955 |
| Box 2 | Folder 3 |
Correspondence RE: Merger with IFWU
|
1942-1943 |
| Box 2 | Folder 4 |
Contract w/ Hinchcliff Products Co., Ohio
|
1972 |
| Box 2 | Folder 5 |
General Newspaper Clippings and Correspondence
|
1938-1970 |
| Box 2 | Folder 6 |
Independent Staff Meetings
|
1953-1954 |
| Box 2 | Folder 7 |
General News Clippings
|
1920-1924 |
| Box 2 | Folder 8 |
National Convention Proceedings
|
1934-1939 |
| Box 2 | Folder 9 |
General Correspondence and Communications
|
1943-1950 |
| Box 2 | Folder 10 |
CIO Leaflets and Tanner Tower
|
1940-1941 |
|
Scope and Contents
Elkland, PA
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 11 |
General Communications
|
1949 |
|
Scope and Contents
Letters, Newsletters, Pamphlets
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 12 |
Elkland News Clippings
|
1937-1964 |
|
Scope and Contents
Includes 2 photographs
|
|||