ILGWU Operations Department Publications Operations Standards Manuals, 1983-1984
Collection Number: 5780/202 PUBS

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


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
ILGWU Operations Department Publications Operations Standards Manuals, 1983-1984
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/202 PUBS
Abstract:
Consists of operations standards manuals for women's blouses for 1983 and 1984, and women's skirts for 1984.
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Quanitities:
0.5 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English

Biographical / Historical

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.

Biographical / Historical

Little documentation exists in the ILGWU records about the work of the Operations Department in the union's international offices, and the materials that comprise the Operations Department records do not explicitly show that they were created by the department per se. While typically an operations department is known to deal with the everyday business of an organization and to have responsibility for the organization's facilities, the records suggest that the department either complemented the work of the Research Department, the Master Agreements Department, and the former Management Engineering Department, or maintained records useful to those departments.

The Operations Department records consist of materials relating to the ILGWU's efforts to maintain a ban on industrial homework, manuals for operations standards in the manufacturing of women's blouses and women's skirts, and collective bargaining agreements. The records relating to homework and operations standards date from the 1980s, and the collective bargaining agreements are from the years just before the ILGWU merged with ACTWU in 1995.
Researchers interested in ILGWU statements on homework and related issues should consult the Research Department records, 5780/209. Likewise, researchers looking for additional collective bargaining agreements should consult collections in Series VI, Contracts and Case Files (5780/075, 5780/075 mf, 5780/145, 5780/146, 5780/147, 5780/158, 5780/191). These records, and others throughout the ILGWU records, complement the records of the Operations Department.
This collection consists of operations standards manuals for women's blouses for 1983 and 1984, and women's skirts for 1984.
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference archivist for access to these materials.
Conditions Governing Use

This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and Procedures for Document Use.

INFORMATION FOR USERS

Preferred Citation

ILGWU Operations Department Publications Operations Standards Manuals #5780/202 PUBS. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

Related Materials

Related Collections: 5780: ILGWU records 5780/196: ILGWU Operations Department Industrial Homework Records 5780/202: ILGWU Operations Department Collective Bargaining Agreements

SUBJECTS

Names:
Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Operations Department
Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees
UNITE HERE (Organization)
Subjects:
Textile workers--Labor unions--New York (State)
Clothing workers--Labor unions--New York (State)

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Box 1 Folder 1
Women's blouses [folder 1 of 3]
1984
Box 1 Folder 1
Item 1: Operations Standards Manual for Women's Blazer Manufacturing
Format: Publication
Scope and Contents
By Atlantic Apparel Contractors Association. Includes Sections: Soabar, Fuse Parts, Collar Prep, Pocket Prep, Facing Prep, Sleeve Prep, Front Prep, and Back Prep. Item is in English.
Box 1 Folder 2
Women's blouses [folder 2 of 3]
1984
Format: Publication
Box 1 Folder 2
Item 1: Operations Standards Manual for Women's Blazer Manufacturing
Format: Publication
Scope and Contents
By Atlantic Apparel Contractors Association. Includes Sections: Under Press Parts, Set Pockets/Welts, Set Facings, Stitch Facings, Join Shoulder, Set/Close Collar, Set Sleeves, Close Sides, and Hem Sleeves/Bottom. Item is in English.
Box 1 Folder 3
Women's blouses [folder 3 of 3]
1984
Format: Publication
Box 1 Folder 3
Item 1: Operations Standards Manual for Women's Blazer Manufacturing
Format: Publication
Scope and Contents
By Atlantic Apparel Contractors Association. Includes Sections: Make/Set Shell Lining, Button Hole/Sew, and Final Press. Item is in English.
Box 1 Folder 4
Women's blouses [folder 1 of 2]
1983
Format: Publication
Box 1 Folder 4
Item 1: Operations Standards Manual for Blouse Manufacturing
Format: Publication
Scope and Contents
By Atlantic Apparel Contractors Association. Includes Sections: Collar Make, Collar Turn, Collar Stitch, Cuff Prep, Sleeve Prep, Make Pockets/Ties, Front and Back Prep, and Join Shoulder. Item is in English.
Box 1 Folder 5
Women's blouses [folder 2 of 2]
1983
Format: Publication
Box 1 Folder 5
Item 1: Operations Standards Manual for Blouse Manufacturing
Format: Publication
Scope and Contents
By Atlantic Apparel Contractors Association. Includes Sections: Set and Close Collar, Set Cuff/Armhole Facing, Set Sleeve, Close Side, Bottoms, Button Hole Sew. Item is in English.
Box 1 Folder 6
Women's skirts [folder 1 of 3]
1984
Format: Publication
Box 1 Folder 6
Item 1: Operations Standards Manual for Women's Skirt Manufacturing
Format: Publication
Scope and Contents
By Atlantic Apparel Contractors Association. Includes Sections: Soabar Parts, Waistband Prep, Make Pockets, Pocket Flap Prep, Make Darts and Pleats, and Overedge Panels. Item is in English.
Box 1 Folder 7
Women's skirts [folder 2 of 3]
1984
Format: Publication
Box 1 Folder 7
Item 1: Operations Standards Manual for Women's Skirt Manufacturing
Format: Publication
Scope and Contents
By Atlantic Apparel Contractors Association. Includes Sections: Set and Stitch Pockets, Set and Topstitch Zipper, Join Fronts and Backs, Join Sides and Inseams, and Set Linings. Item is in English.
Box 1 Folder 8
Women's skirts [folder 3 of 3]
1984
Format: Publication
Box 1 Folder 8
Item 1: Operations Standards Manual for Women's Skirt Manufacturing
Format: Publication
Scope and Contents
By Atlantic Apparel Contractors Association. Includes Sections: Set/Stitch Waistband, Hem Bottom/Turn Skirt, Button Hole/Button Sew, Bartack, and Final Press. Item is in English.