ILGWU. Local 40 records, 1933-1977
Collection Number: 5780/035
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
ILGWU. Local 40 records, 1933-1977
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/035
Abstract:
The collection contains the records of International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Local 40, Beltmakers Union. Includes minutes of the Executive Board, Membership, Grievance
Board, and Committee meetings. Also includes correspondence, agreements, election
files, financial reports, strike files, and issues of the local's publication, The
Belt Maker.
Creator:
Local 40
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU).
Quanitities:
3 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
Founded in 1900 by local union delegates representing about 2,000 members in cities
in the northeastern United States, the ILGWU grew in geographical scope, membership
size, 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. In 1995, the ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated
Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) to form the Union of Needletrades, Industrial
and Textile Employees (UNITE).
Having no union of their own for the first two decades of the twentieth century, beltmakers
in 1918 appealed to the executive board of the Fancy Leather Goods Workers' Union
to undertake an organizing drive. Met with enthusiastic response, almost all beltmakers
in New York soon joined the union. These organized members demanded union recognition,
a forty four hour week and a thirty percent wage increase. A work stoppage in September
1918 forced employers to the negotiating table. Unwilling to agree to a wage increase,
a strike on September 3 brought the belt industry to a standstill. An agreement was
reached, but soon the large firms began moving their factories outside of the city
and of union control. Between 1919 and 1933, beltmakers in New York were left without
a union. By the 1930s, the belt industry saw significant increases in workers and
production, especially in the field of women's belts. In 1933, there began a series
of walkouts and meetings among workers with the intent to organize. A general strike
of 900 workers took place on September 13, 1933 and the employers retaliated with
hostility. With the aid of the ILGWU, in 1934 there began a series of walkouts, one
shop at a time. Employers began signing collective agreements. While Beltmakers' Union
Local 40 was chartered in 1934, it was officially installed as a local of the ILGWU
in February 1935.
The first half of the collection consists of various minutes. There are minutes of
the Executive Board, minutes of the Health and Welfare Committee, minutes of the Grievance
Board, and minutes of the Retirement Benefits Fund.
The earliest minutes of the Executive Board are handwritten. Later years contain
reports from the various committees as well as the manager's report and a report on
the local's finances. The Grievance Board minutes consist of cases that came before
the Grievance Board, identified by case number, date, individual grievant and a summary.
Posters announce early meetings of the beltmakers, before the union was chartered.
Also in the records are the first agreements with employers, election materials for
the new local, and the local's publication "The Belt Maker."
Local 40 produced numerous publications on benefits, plans, and shop conditions.
There are publications about the benefits of membership and introductory material
for new members, a guide to the union, information about union dues, and a constitution
and by-laws. Most interesting are the booklets on belts and belt making. There are
diagrams illustrating the different styles of belts and how to sew them. One can also
find a booklet on the history of beltmakers and Local 40. Publications were printed
both in English and Spanish.
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
ILGWU. Local 40 records #5780/035. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation
and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Local 40.
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 |
Executive Board Minutes
|
1934-1936 |
Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Executive Board Minutes [folder 1 of 2]
|
1937-1940 |
Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Executive Board Minutes [folder 2 of 2]
|
1937-1940 |
Box 1 | Folder 4 |
Executive Board Minutes [folder 1 of 2]
|
1941-1944 |
Box 1 | Folder 5 |
Executive Board Minutes [folder 2 of 2]
|
1941-1944 |
Box 1 | Folder 6 |
Executive Board Minutes [folder 1 of 2]
|
1944-1950 |
Box 1 | Folder 7 |
Executive Board Minutes [folder 2 of 2]
|
1944-1950 |
Box 1 | Folder 8 |
Executive Board Minutes [folder 1 of 2]
|
1951-1960 |
Box 1 | Folder 9 |
Executive Board Minutes [folder 2 of 2]
|
1951-1960 |
Box 1 | Folder 10 |
Executive Board Minutes [folder 1 of 2]
|
1961-1967 |
Box 1 | Folder 11 |
Executive Board Minutes [folder 2 of 2]
|
1961-1967 |
Box 1 | Folder 12 |
Health and Welfare Committee Minutes
|
1939-1944 |
Box 1 | Folder 13 |
Health and Welfare Committee Minutes
|
1946-1955 |
Box 1 | Folder 14 |
Health and Welfare Committee Minutes [folder 1 of 2]
|
1956-1967 |
Box 1 | Folder 15 |
Health and Welfare Committee Minutes [folder 2 of 2]
|
1956-1967 |
Box 1 | Folder 16 |
Grievance Board Minutes [folder 1 of 2]
|
1939-1941 |
Box 1 | Folder 17 |
Grievance Board Minutes [folder 2 of 2]
|
1939-1941 |
Box 1 | Folder 18 |
Grievance Board Minutes
|
1945-1956 |
Box 2 | Folder 1 |
Retirement Benefits Fund Minutes [folder 1 of 2]
|
1953-1964 |
Box 2 | Folder 2 |
Retirement Benefits Fund Minutes [folder 2 of 2]
|
1953-1964 |
Box 2 | Folder 3 |
Supplementary Employment Severance Benefits Fund
|
1959-1973 |
Box 2 | Folder 4 |
Local 40 Publications [folder 1 of 2]
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 5 |
Local 40 Publications [folder 2 of 2]
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 6 |
Membership Committee
|
1964-1972 |
Box 2 | Folder 7 |
Record of Dues and Expenditures
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 8 |
Local 40 Posters
|
|
Box 2 | Folder 9 |
Membership Meeting Minutes
|
1935-1938 |
Box 3 | Folder 1 |
Posters and Pamphlets
|
1933-1960 |
Box 3 | Folder 2 |
Memorandum of Agreements
|
1933 |
Box 3 | Folder 3 |
Election Materials
|
1935-1939 |
Box 3 | Folder 4 |
Election of New Administration of the Belt Maker's Union
|
1942-1947 |
Box 3 | Folder 5 |
Election Report
|
1950 |
Box 3 | Folder 6 |
Financial Statements
|
1934-1935 |
Box 3 | Folder 7 |
Slote and Klein Strike
|
1937 |
Box 3 | Folder 8 |
The Belt Maker Vol.I No.1-Vol.II No.10
|
1936-1937 |
Box 3 | Folder 9 |
The Belt Maker Vol.II No.11-Vol.VI No.22
|
1937 |
Box 3 | Folder 10 |
The Belt Maker Vol.III No.24-Vol.VI No.23
|
1938 |
Box 3 | Folder 11 |
The Belt Maker Vol.IV No.31-Vol.IV No.42
|
1939 |
Box 3 | Folder 12 |
The Belt Maker Vol.III No.43-Vol.VII No.4
|
1940-1946 |
Box 3 | Folder 13 |
The Belt Maker Vol.VIII No.1-Vol.LVII No.4
|
1947-1957 |
Box 3 | Folder 14 |
The Belt Maker Vol.LVIII No.8-Vol.V No.4
|
1958-1977 |