ILGWU. Local 22 minutes,, 1932-1972.
Collection Number: 5780/036

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


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
ILGWU. Local 22 minutes, 1932-1972.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/036
Abstract:
Records of International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union Local 22, Dressmakers Union. Includes minutes of Executive Board, Membership, and Grievance Committee meetings.
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Local 22 (New York, N.Y.)
Quanitities:
1 collection
1 collection
Language:
Collection material in English

Biographical / Historical

The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union was founded in New York City in 1900 by mostly Socialist immigrant workers who sought to unite the various crafts in the growing women's garment industry. The union soon reflected changes in the sector and rapidly organized thousands of unskilled and semi-skilled women, mostly Jewish and Italian young immigrants. Exemplifying the "new unionism," the ILGWU led two of the most widespread and best-known industrial strikes of the early Twentieth Century: the shirtwaist makers' strike of 1909 in New York City and the cloak makers' strike of 1910 in Chicago. The union also tried to adapt to the fragmented and unstable nature of the industry. It adopted the "protocol of peace," a system of industrial relations that attempted to ensure stability and limit strikes and production disruption by providing for an arbitration system to resolve disputes.
The ILGWU exemplified the European-style social unionism of its founding members. They pursued bread and butter issues but provided educational opportunities, benefits, and social programs to union members as well. In 1919, the ILGWU became the first American union to negotiate an unemployment compensation fund that was contributed to by its employers. The ILGWU also pioneered in the establishment of an extremely progressive health care program for its members which included not only regional Union Health Centers but also a resort for union workers, known as Unity House. The Union also had an imaginative and pioneering Education Department which not only trained workers in traditional union techniques, but provided courses in citizenship and the English language.
David Dubinsky, an immigrant from Belarus who came to the US in 1911, provided strong leadership that led to unprecedented growth in the union during his presidency from 1932 to 1966. He led the union through successful internal anti-communist struggles, built on the ascendancy of industrial unionism by encouraging the formation of the Committee for Industrial Organization, and helped the union become an important political force in New York City and state politics, and in the national Democratic Party and Liberal Party as well.
In the period following the Second World War, the union suffered a decline in membership as manufacturers avoided unionization and took advantage of less expensive labor by moving shops from the urban centers in the northeast to the south, and later abroad. The ethnic and racial character of the ILGWU also changed as European immigrants were supplanted by Asians, Latin Americans, African- Americans, and immigrants from the Caribbean.
In July 1995 the ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) at a joint convention, forming UNITE (Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees). At the time the new union had a membership of about 250,000 in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

Biographical / Historical

Local 22 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), also known as the Dressmakers' Union, was chartered in December 1920 and based in New York, New York.

Records of International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union Local 22, Dressmakers Union. Includes minutes of Executive Board, Membership, and Grievance Committee meetings.
The ILGWU Records, except for publications and materials produced for publication, are restricted. Materials created prior to twenty years from the current date are open to researchers only with prior written permission from the Director of the Kheel Center; materials created during the past twenty-years are closed; the minutes of the General Executive Board are closed. For more information contact the Kheel Center.

INFORMATION FOR USERS

Preferred Citation

ILGWU. Local 22 minutes. 5780/036. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell University.

Related Materials

5780. ILGWU Records
5780/014. ILGWU. Local 22. Charles Zimmerman papers
5780/014 P. ILGWU. Local 22. Charles Zimmerman photographs
5780/015. ILGWU. Local 22 records
5780/057. ILGWU. Local 22. Education Department records
5780/057 P. ILGWU. Local 22. Education Department photographs
5780/067. ILGWU. Local 22. Israel Breslow papers

SUBJECTS

Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Local 22 (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
Women's clothing industry -- United States
Women's clothing industry--New York (State)--New York.
Clothing workers -- Labor unions -- United States
Labor unions--Clothing workers--New York (State)--New York.
Clothing workers -- United States
Clothing workers--New York (State)--New York.
Industrial relations -- United States
Industrial relations--New York (State)--New York.

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Series I. Executive Board Meetings, 1934-1972
Box 1 Folder 1
Executive Board. Minutes.
1934
Scope and Contents
January 1, 1934 - December 30, 1934
Box 1 Folder 2
Executive Board. Minutes.
1935
Scope and Contents
January 1, 1935 - December 31, 1935
Box 1 Folder 3
Executive Board. Minutes.
1936
Scope and Contents
Vol. 6. January 1, 1936 - December 31, 1936
Box 1 Folder 4
Executive Board. Minutes.
1937
Scope and Contents
Vol. 7. January 1, 1937 - December 31, 1937
Box 1 Folder 5
Executive Board. Minutes.
1938
Scope and Contents
Vol. 8. January 1, 1938 - December 31, 1938
Box 1 Folder 6
Executive Board. Minutes.
1939
Scope and Contents
Vol. 9. January 1, 1939 - December 31, 1939
Box 1 Folder 7
Executive Board. Minutes.
1940
Scope and Contents
Vol. X. January 2, 1940 - December 17, 1940
Box 1 Folder 8
Executive Board. Minutes.
1941
Scope and Contents
Vol. XI. January 7, 1941 - December 23, 1941
Box 1 Folder 9
Executive Board. Minutes.
1942
Scope and Contents
Vol. XII. January 12, 1942 - December 22, 1942
Box 2 Folder 1
Executive Board. Minutes.
1943
Scope and Contents
Vol. XIII. January 5, 1943 - December 21, 1943
Box 2 Folder 2
Executive Board. Minutes.
1944
Scope and Contents
Vol. XIV. January 4, 1944 - December 11, 1945
Box 2 Folder 3
Executive Board. Minutes.
1945-1947
Scope and Contents
Vol. XV. January 8, 1946 - December 23, 1947
Box 2 Folder 4
Executive Board. Minutes.
1948-1949
Scope and Contents
Vol. XVI. January 18, 1948 - December 20, 1949
Box 2 Folder 5
Executive Board. Minutes.
1950-1951
Scope and Contents
Vol. XVII. January 10, 1950 - December 18, 1951
Box 2 Folder 6
Executive Board. Minutes.
1952-1953
Scope and Contents
Vol. XVIII. January 8, 1952 - December 15, 1953
Box 2 Folder 7
Executive Board. Minutes.
1954-1956
Scope and Contents
Vol. XIX. January 5, 1954 - December 18, 1956
Box 2 Folder 8
Executive Board. Minutes.
1957-1958
Scope and Contents
Vol. XX. January 8, 1957 - December 23, 1958
Box 3 Folder 1
Executive Board. Minutes.
1959-1960
Scope and Contents
Vol. XXI. January 6, 1959 - December 20, 1960
Box 3 Folder 2
Executive Board. Minutes.
1961-1962
Scope and Contents
Vol. XXII. January 3, 1961 - December 12, 1962
Box 3 Folder 3
Executive Board. Minutes.
1963-1964
Scope and Contents
Vol. XXIII. January 8, 1963 - December 22, 1964
Box 3 Folder 4
Executive Board. Minutes.
1965-1966
Scope and Contents
Vol. XXIV. January 5, 1965 - December 27, 1966
Box 3 Folder 5
Executive Board. Minutes.
1967-1968
Scope and Contents
Vol. XXV. January 10, 1967 - December 26, 1968
Box 3 Folder 6
Executive Board. Minutes.
1969-1970
Scope and Contents
Vol. XXVI. January 21, 1969 - December 29, 1970
Box 3 Folder 7
Executive Board. Minutes.
1971-1972
Scope and Contents
Vol. XXVII. January 19, 1971 - December 26, 1972
Series II. Committee Meetings, 1943-1967
Subseries A. Grievance Committee, 1943-1952
Box 4 Folder 1
Grievance Committee. Minutes.
1943
Scope and Contents
Vol. XI. January 4, 1943 - December 20, 1943
Box 4 Folder 2
Grievance Committee. Minutes.
1944
Scope and Contents
Vol. XII. 1944
Box 4 Folder 3
Grievance Committee. Minutes.
1945
Scope and Contents
Vol. XIII. 1945
Box 4 Folder 4
Grievance Committee. Minutes.
1946
Scope and Contents
Vol. XIV. 1946
Box 4 Folder 5
Grievance Committee. Minutes.
1947
Scope and Contents
Vol. XV. 1947
Box 4 Folder 6
Grievance Committee. Minutes.
1948-1952
Scope and Contents
Vol. XVI. 1948 - 1952 Inclusive
Sub-series B. Membership Meetings, 1964-1967
1964-1967
Box 4 Folder 7
General Membership. Minutes.
1964-1967
Scope and Contents
May 13, 1964 - March 1, 1967