Fabio Schettini ILGWU Memorabilia, 1940-1970
Collection Number: 6036/102 MB

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.

Fabio Schettini was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 26, 1909. He earned his Bachelor of Science fron City College in 1943. Mr. Schettini joined ILGWU Local 48 in May 1944, where his mother-in-law was already a member. He worked as a business agent, price adjuster, and union organizer for the ILGWU. Mr. Schettini participated in the Mirror Coat Strike in 1949 and organized for the ILGWU in Bensonhurst neighborhood in Brooklyn.

According to his ILGWU autobiography (see Collection 5087/177, Box 2, Folder 30), he "learned [his] trade in Italy for four years and had [his] entire education in the evening schools of New York City. [He] was for 16 years a member of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America."

In 1964, he ran for New York State Assembly as the Liberal Party candidate, loosing to Democrat Noah Goldstein. In 1965, he ran for New York City Council as a Liberal Party candidate and campaigned for Republican John Lindsay's mayoral campaign.

Mr. Schettini was married to Antoinette Schettini. Together they had five children: Roland, Elaine, Linda, Nicholas, and Terry. His widow and children donated the materials in this collection.

Local 48 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), also known as the Italian Cloakmakers' Union, was chartered by members of Local 1 and Local 35 in 1916 and based in New York, New York. As membership and industry declined in the 1970s, the local became Local 48 United Coat, Suit and Allied Garment Workers' Union of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island (coat and suit workers in all crafts in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island), and later Local 48 Coat, Suit, Dress, Rainwear and Allied Workers Union of North Brooklyn. In late 1981, the Joint Board approved a measure to dissolve Local 48, and Local 89 was renamed Local 89-48 to honor the historic significance of the Italian cloakmakers.

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Fabio Schettini ILGWU Memorabilia #6036/102 MB. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

Related Collections: 6036/102 P: Fabio Schettini ILGWU Photographs 6036/102m: Fabio Schettini ILGWU Files 6036/102 PUBS: Fabio Schettini ILGWU Publications 5780/040: ILGWU Local 48 Records 5780/177: ILGWU Communications Department Biography Files