ILGWU Southeast Region Records, 1937-1988
Collection Number: 5780/058

The collection is composed of a large number of records that can be described thematically by subject, including garment companies, regional and national departments, correspondence, and organizing.

A substantial amount of the records focuses on material pertaining to garment companies within the Southeast Region. These files often contain correspondence and reports, cases and complaints before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), NLRB agreements, grievances, affidavits, and awards from arbitration hearings. There is also information on the NLRB elections in various shops to determine whether the ILGWU would become the bargaining agent for employees, including ballots and results. Of particular interest to the researcher are the records documenting the difficulty the union had in organizing some of the shops, which often involved work stoppages and strikes. While there is much union literature that was passed out by organizers, also of research significance is the large number of anti-union flyers and correspondence as well as anti-union literature that was distributed by employers to their workers in an attempt to dissuade the employees from organizing.

The files of Alba-Waldensian, Inc. epitomize the type of material that can be found in the folders dedicated to the various garment companies. Alba-Waldensian, Inc. was a knitted outerwear producer that operated under the piece-rate system. When the company experienced losses in 1965, they reduced the piece rate, and the employees (not unionized) planned a strike. The ILGWU sent representatives to organize and the records document the subsequent conflict between union and management including correspondence, the U.S. Court of Appeals trial documents, exhibits, and evidence.

Some of the more notable companies with extensive files include: American Manufacturing Company; Appalachian Mills Company (Local 377, Knoxville, TN); Brunswick Manufacturing Company (Local 519, Brunswick, GA); Cherokee Sportswear, Inc. (Local 444, i.e. NLRB charges and agreements); Cullman Lingerie Corp. (Local 457, i.e. negotiations and grievance reports); E-Z Mills; Elberton Manufacturing Co. (Local 574, i.e. U.S. Court of Appeals and the piece rate system); Flagg-Utica Corporation (Local 378), G.C. Lingerie Corp. (Local 527); Garland Knitting Mills; Hartsville Manufacturing Co. (Local 515); Hobco Manufacturing Company; Jonathan Logan Inc. (Butte Knit Division); Judy Bond as well as its contractors and subsidiaries in its southern plants, including Brewton, AL (i.e. the "Don't Buy Judy Bond Blouses" campaign and the United Garment Workers of America); Levi Strauss & Company (Local 516, i.e. withdrawals from the union); Marlene Industries Corp.; Movie Star, Inc. (Local 448); Palmetto Manufacturing Company (Local 122); and Signal Knitting Mills (Local 346).

A second component of the collection involves offices, departments and administrative material from the Southeast Region. Within the files of the Southeastern Regional office, there are listings of existing and new garment shops, correspondence and material on the annual Southeastern Region conference. While there is information on the many locals of the Southeast Region, unfortunately they are not delineated by local name or number, but instead, information on particular locals are found within the folders of the garment company of which that local was attached. For instance, the records of Local 457 would be within the files of the Cullman Lingerie Corp. Locals that do have their own folders include Local 122 Atlanta, which includes the constitution and by-laws, as well as the Miami Joint Council Cloak and Dress Makers' Union Locals 339 and 415.

Departments featured are the Political Department (political campaign contributions, campaign committees, and informational literature), the Legal Department (correspondence from the regional offices to those in the international legal department including General Counsel Morris Glushien; fees and expenses for various services and cases and contracts reviewed), the Union Label Department (correspondence regarding promotion and use of the label garments; the number of labels issued to firms in the region; union label kit for companies) and Unity Broadcasting Corporation and its attempt to secure FM radio licenses and stations across the region, including Chattanooga. There are also issues of the "Southern Garment Worker," the newsletter for the region.

Records on the Southeast Region Health and Welfare Fund include informational literature, correspondence, reports, Board of Trustees meetings and minutes, financial statements and contributions, as well as receipts and disbursements. Of particular interest is material on the Mobile Health Center Unit. The Mobile Health Center was a completely equipped diagnostic clinic on wheels which provided free annual examinations for ILGWU members throughout the Southeast. It was staffed by a physician, registered nurse, and laboratory technician. It was to travel from shop to shop in the Southeastern Region of the ILGWU. The records include the weekly reports and statistics such as the number of examinations performed and the routes taken between locals.

The ILGWU Training Institute began in 1950, graduating approximately 25 students annually. It was a full-time school for the training of union personnel which prepared individuals for careers in the ILGWU as organizers, representatives, administrators, technicians, and educators. The Southeast Region collection consists of correspondence, applicants, training material, listings showing the number of graduates on staff in the different regions, and especially graduates being sent to the Southeast Region for field training.

The Federation of Union Representatives (FOUR) was the attempt by staff members of the ILGWU to organize. FOUR was to be the exclusive bargaining representative for staff. The folders in this collection contain FOUR newsletters, letters to Dubinsky, articles, applications as well as withdrawals and resignations from FOUR, and the NLRB Case and subsequent balloting and voting for representation. Of special interest is the reaction to FOUR at the regional level, from the staff in the Southeastern Region offices.

Individuals with significant correspondence include Southeast Region Directors John S. Martin, E.T. Kehrer, Martin Morand, and Nick Bonanno, who started as an organizer in Mississippi, before moving to Tennessee as a business agent, and supervising the Carolinas, before becoming an assistant director of the Southeast Region, and finally a director. Other notable correspondence includes Harry Crone (Promotion Director ILGWU), Wilbur Daniels, David Dubinsky, Edward Kramer (Eastern-Out-Of-Town Department), Morris Glushien (General Counsel), Abraham Plotkin, Louis Stulberg, Gus Tyler and Frederick Umhey.

The final component of the collection focuses on the work of organizing the shops in the South. There is correspondence on organizing shops as the organizers themselves travel from city to city and factory to factory. The organizers stay in different hotels and locations on their journeys, and report back to the union on their progress. Included are the handwritten organizer's activity reports. These weekly reports are arranged by individual organizer and consist of forms to be filled out at the end of each week. The organizer reports chronicles their daily activities, filling out the name of the shop, type of work, what type of meeting took place (regular, special, executive board, committee, grievance), the number present at the meeting, and a listing of grievances and settlements. Other reports include places to list individuals met in the shops and indicate whether the visit resulted in a signed card, met with a refusal, person was out, or it was a repeat call. The work of the organizers are reflected in the collection through the documents on strikes and work stoppages, posters and leaflets passed out by the organizers, notices and memos to get employees to unionize, signing up members and union cards, and finally voting for union membership. The records help to illustrate the difficult task of organizing the shops in the South, as there is an abundance of anti-union literature and leaflets. The organizers were often met with disdain from employers, but also distrust from the workers too. The collection also contains literature on Right to Work laws for the states, many of which were in the South where the union was attempting to organize. Information on Right to Work includes pros and cons, employee views and how the laws impacted the worker, as well as complaints against compulsory unionism.