ILGWU. Alan Howard papers,, 1970-1997.
Collection Number: 5780/206

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


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
ILGWU. Alan Howard papers, 1970-1997.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/206
Abstract:
Country files include correspondence and notes, printed material, and newspaper clippings on countries in which the ILGWU had a special interest, especially the Dominican Republic and Honduras. Company files include correspondence, memoranda, notes, and press material on companies with which the ILGWU dealt; especially well-documented is the strike against and negotiations with Leslie Fay. Subject files include correspondence with and collected printed material on labor leaders and politicians, as well as on subjects relating to the garment industry and trade.
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union;
Howard, Alan.
Quanitities:
6 cubic feet
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

Alan Howard was Assistant to the President of the ILGWU.

Country files include correspondence and notes, printed material, and newspaper clippings on countries in which the ILGWU had a special interest, especially the Dominican Republic and Honduras. Company files include correspondence, memoranda, notes, and press material on companies with which the ILGWU dealt; especially well-documented is the strike against and negotiations with Leslie Fay. Subject files include correspondence with and collected printed material on labor leaders and politicians, as well as on subjects relating to the garment industry and trade.
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.
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. Alan Howard papers. 5780/206. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell University.

Related Materials

6000/029. UNITE. Alan Howard. Assistant to the President. Files

SUBJECTS

Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
Howard, Alan
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America --Archives
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union --Archives
Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees --Archives
Subjects:
Clothing workers--Labor unions--New York (State)
Clothing trade--New York (State)

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Series I. Country files
Box 1 Folder 2
Bangladesh/Pakistan
1995
Box 1 Folder 3
Caracus
1995
Box 1 Folder 4
Canada
1991-1993
Box 1 Folder 5
Chile
1994
Box 1 Folder 6
Costa Rica
1990-1997
Box 1 Folder 7
Cuba
1992-1995
Box 1 Folder 8
Dominican Republic: Bibong Apparel
1994
Box 1 Folder 9
Dominican Republic: Bibong Apparel
1994
Box 1 Folder 10
Dominican Republic: Bilateral Negotiations
1993
Box 1 Folder 11
Dominican Republic: Centro de Investigacion Para la Accion Femenina (CIPAF)
1992-1993
Box 1 Folder 12
Dominican Republic: Centro de Investigacion Para la Accion Femenina (CIPAF)
1995
Box 1 Folder 13
Dominican Republic: Clips from Confederacion Nacional de Trabajadores Dominicanos (CNTD)
1988- 1992
Box 1 Folder 14
Dominican Republic: Confederacion Nacional de Trabajadores Dominicanos (CNTD), Internal
1991- 1995
Box 1 Folder 15
Dominican Republic: Confederacion Nacional de Trabajadores Dominicanos (CNTD)/Union de Trabajadores Latino-Americanos (UTLA)
1992
Box 1 Folder 16
Dominican Republic: Confederacion Nacional de Trabajadores Dominicanos (CNTD) Delegation
1994
Box 1 Folder 17
Dominican Republic: Data
1994-1995
Box 1 Folder 18
Dominican Republic: Federacion Nacional de Trabajadores de Zonas Francas (FENATRAZONAS)
1992
Box 1 Folder 19
Dominican Republic: Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Review
1993
Box 1 Folder 20
Dominican Republic: Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Review
1993
Box 1 Folder 21
Dominican Republic: Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Review
1993
Box 1 Folder 22
Dominican Republic: Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Documents
1993-1994
Box 1 Folder 23
Dominican Republic: Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Documents
1993-1994
Box 1 Folder 24
Dominican Republic: Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Documents
1993-1994
Box 1 Folder 25
Dominican Republic: Gomez, Francisco Pena
1995
Box 1 Folder 26
Dominican Republic: Han Chang Manufacture Textil Dominica
1994-1995
Box 1 Folder 27
Dominican Republic: Servicio Judicial
1993
Box 1 Folder 28
El Salvador
1992-1995
Box 1 Folder 29
El Salvador: Maquilas
1995
Box 1 Folder 30
El Salvador: United States Trade Representative
1994-1995
Box 1 Folder 31
Guatemala
1992-1995
Box 1 Folder 32
Guatemala
1992-1995
Box 2 Folder 1
Guatemala: Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)
1994
Box 2 Folder 2
Guatemala: Guatemala Labor Education Project (GLEP)
1995
Box 2 Folder 3
Guatemala: Guatemala Labor Education Project (GLEP)
1995
Box 2 Folder 4
Haiti
1992-1993
Box 2 Folder 5
Haiti
1992-1993
Box 2 Folder 6
Haiti
1993-1995
Box 2 Folder 7
Haiti
1993-1995
Box 2 Folder 8
Honduras
1993-1994
Box 2 Folder 9
Honduras
1993-1994
Box 2 Folder 10
Honduras
1993-1994
Box 2 Folder 11
Honduras
1995
Box 2 Folder 12
Honduras
1995
Box 2 Folder 13
Honduras/Fesitradeh
1995
Box 2 Folder 14
Honduras: Price Waterhouse
1993
Box 2 Folder 15
Honduras: trip (Liz Claiborne)
1994
Box 2 Folder 16
Honduras: United States Trade Representative
1994
Box 2 Folder 17
India
1994
Box 2 Folder 18
Israel: National Committee for Labor Israel (David Dinkins Tribute)
1995
Box 2 Folder 19
Mexico
1992-1994
Box 2 Folder 20
Mexico
1992-1995
Box 2 Folder 21
Mexico
1992-1995
Scope and Contents
Clippings
Box 2 Folder 22
Puerto Rico
1992-1993
Box 2 Folder 23
Puerto Rico: Section 936
1993
Scope and Contents
United States Tax Code
Box 2 Folder 24
Saipan
1993-1995
Box 2 Folder 25
Taiwan
1994
Box 2 Folder 26
Thailand
1993
Series II. Company files
Box 2 Folder 27
Cynge Designs
1993-1994
Box 2 Folder 28
Dayton Hudson Corporation
1993
Box 2 Folder 29
Eddie Bauer
1995
Box 2 Folder 30
Esprit
1994
Box 2 Folder 31
Gitano
1994
Box 2 Folder 32
Kellwood
1995
Box 2 Folder 33
Koret
1994
Box 2 Folder 34
Kunja Knitting Mills
1993-1994
Box 3 Folder 1
Leslie Fay
1993-1994
Box 3 Folder 2
Leslie Fay
1993-1994
Box 3 Folder 3
Leslie Fay, current
1993-1994
Box 3 Folder 4
Leslie Fay,current
1993-1994
Box 3 Folder 5
Leslie Fay Congressional Hearing, June 7
1994
Box 3 Folder 6
Congressional Hearing on the Future of Leslie Fay and the Domestic Apparel Industry
1994
Box 3 Folder 7
Congressional Hearing on the Future of Leslie Fay and the Domestic Apparel Industry
1994
Box 3 Folder 8
Leslie Fay ( Hearing of the Subcommittee on Labor Management Relations, July 21)
1994
Box 3 Folder 9
Leslie Fay, Guatemala
1993-1994
Box 3 Folder 10
Leslie Fay, Guatemala
1993-1994
Box 3 Folder 11
Leslie Fay, Honduras
1994
Box 3 Folder 12
International Ladies Garment Workers' Union: Leslie Fay
1994
Box 3 Folder 13
Leslie Fay, international overview
1993-1994
Box 3 Folder 14
Leslie Fay, leaflets
1994
Box 3 Folder 15
Leslie Fay, liquidated damages
1994
Box 3 Folder 16
Leslie Fay, Macy's
1994
Box 3 Folder 17
Leslie Fay, post-strike
1994-1995
Box 3 Folder 18
Leslie Fay, press coverage
1994
Box 3 Folder 19
Leslie Fay, reading material
1992-1994
Box 3 Folder 20
Stakeholders Alliance Report
1994
Scope and Contents
Leslie Fay
Box 3 Folder 21
Leslie Fay, visuals
1994
Scope and Contents
Photos
Box 3 Folder 22
Leslie Fay, X
1994
Scope and Contents
Confidential
Box 3 Folder 23
Maidenform
1992-1994
Box 3 Folder 24
Phillips-Van Heusen
1993
Box 3 Folder 25
Phillips Van-Heusen
1994
Box 3 Folder 26
Sara Lee
1992
Box 3 Folder 27
Warnaco
1992-1995
Series III. Subject files
Box 3 Folder 28
Administrative (expenses, etc.)
1992-1994
Box 3 Folder 29
Codes of Conduct, Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) Contract
1993
Box 3 Folder 30
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) Executive Council
1993- 1995
Box 3 Folder 31
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) International Organizing and Solidarity Sub-Committee
1994-1995
Box 3 Folder 32
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) International Organizing and Solidarity Sub-Committee
1994-1995
Box 3 Folder 33
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), miscellany
1993- 1994
Scope and Contents
statements, campaign updates
Box 3 Folder 34
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), politics
1995
Box 3 Folder 35
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), trade
1995
Box 3 Folder 36
American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD)
1994
Box 3 Folder 37
American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD)
1995
Box 4 Folder 1
American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD), August 26
1994
Box 4 Folder 2
American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD), Dominican Republic, January 5
1993
Box 1 Folder 1
Angelo, Alfred
1993-1997
Box 4 Folder 3
General Archives
1995
Box 4 Folder 4
Brochure
1993
Box 4 Folder 5
Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI)
1995
Box 4 Folder 6
Contracts
1993-1995
Box 4 Folder 7
Chavez, Cesar
1993
Scope and Contents
Memorial Celebration
Box 4 Folder 8
Child Labor
1970-1994
Box 4 Folder 9
Clinton
1992
Scope and Contents
President-elect
Box 4 Folder 10
Clinton/International Ladies Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU)
1992
Box 4 Folder 11
Clinton, news conferences
1992-1993
Box 4 Folder 12
Conference on the Future of the American Workplace
1993
Box 4 Folder 13
Conference on the Future of the American Workplace
1993
Box 4 Folder 14
D'Amato, Alfonse (Senator)
1992
Box 4 Folder 15
Daily News/Chinatown
1992-1994
Box 4 Folder 16
Damon/Amerimex/Mexico
1993
Box 4 Folder 17
Damon/Amerimex/Mexico
1993
Box 4 Folder 18
Dinkins, David
1992-1993
Scope and Contents
Mayor of New York City
Box 4 Folder 19
Donahue, Tom
1992-1994
Scope and Contents
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Secretary-Treasurer
Box 4 Folder 20
Economy, taxes,etc.
1992-1994
Box 4 Folder 21
Education reform
Scope and Contents
No date
Box 4 Folder 22
Fair Trade Campaign
1992-1993
Box 4 Folder 23
Federacao Internacional dos Trabalhadores do Textil, Vestuario, Couro, Calcado/ Organizacan Regional Interamericana (FITTVCC/ORI)
1992-1994
Box 4 Folder 24
Financial Records
1993-1996
Box 4 Folder 25
Firm Analysis Working Group
1992-1995
Box 4 Folder 26
Florida/Miscellaneous
1995
Box 4 Folder 27
Free Trade Zones (FTZ), Asia
1992
Box 4 Folder 28
Freedom House
1993
Box 4 Folder 29
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
1992-1994
Box 4 Folder 30
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
1993-1994
Box 4 Folder 31
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
1993-1994
Box 4 Folder 32
General Executive Board (GEB) Meetings
1992-1993
Box 4 Folder 33
Hart Survey
1997
Scope and Contents
International Ladies Garment Workers' Union members
Box 4 Folder 34
Howard, Alan to Mazur, Jay
1992-1993
Scope and Contents
Memos
Box 5 Folder 1
In These Times
1994
Box 5 Folder 2
Inside Edition
1993
Box 5 Folder 3
Industrial Strategy
1992-1994
Box 5 Folder 4
Industrial Union Department, labor law reform
1992-1993
Box 5 Folder 5
Industrial Union Department, labor law reform
1992-1993
Box 5 Folder 6
Industry data and analysis
1992-1994
Box 5 Folder 7
Inter-Church Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)
1993
Box 5 Folder 8
International Labor Organization
1993-1995
Box 5 Folder 9
International Labor Rights Education and Research Fund
1994-1995
Box 5 Folder 10
International Organizing and Solidarity Committee
1993-1994
Box 5 Folder 11
International Organizing and Solidarity Committee
1993-1994
Box 5 Folder 12
International Organizing and Solidarity Committee
1993-1994
Box 5 Folder 13
International Strategy
1992-1994
Box 5 Folder 14
Jokes
1994
Box 5 Folder 15
Kantor, Mickey
1993-1994
Scope and Contents
United States Trade Representative
Box 5 Folder 16
Kearney, Neil
1995
Scope and Contents
International Textile, Garment and Leather Worker's Federation (ITGLWF) General Secretary
Box 5 Folder 17
Kernaghan, Charles
1993-1994
Box 5 Folder 18
Kernaghan, Charles
1995
Box 5 Folder 19
Kirkland, Lane
1992-1995
Scope and Contents
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), President
Box 5 Folder 20
Kirkland, Lane
1992-1995
Scope and Contents
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), President
Box 5 Folder 21
Labor law reform
1992-1994
Box 5 Folder 22
Labor law reform
1992-1994
Box 5 Folder 23
Labor trends
1993-1994
Box 5 Folder 24
Layoffs
1992-1993
Box 5 Folder 25
Letters to editors
1994
Box 5 Folder 26
Magali. Pineda
1993
Scope and Contents
Centro de Investigacion para la Accion Femenina (CIPAF)
Box 5 Folder 27
Mazur, Jay on North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
1993
Box 5 Folder 28
Miscellany
1993-1995
Box 6 Folder 1
National Labor Committee, Charles Kernaghan
1995
Box 6 Folder 2
Negotiations/Communications
1994
Box 6 Folder 3
New York, economic development
1992-1993
Box 6 Folder 4
New York City, industry development
1992-1995
Box 6 Folder 5
Report of the Administration on North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
1992
Box 6 Folder 6
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
1994
Box 6 Folder 7
Political Contacts, base
1994
Box 6 Folder 8
Productivity Advisory Council
1993
Box 6 Folder 9
References
1993-1994
Box 6 Folder 10
Romney, Edgar
1993
Box 6 Folder 11
San Francisco
1994
Box 6 Folder 12
Starobin, Herman
1991-1995
Box 6 Folder 13
Starobin, Herman
1991-1995
Box 6 Folder 14
Trade
1992-1994
Scope and Contents
essays, speeches
Box 6 Folder 15
Trade/strategy
1992-1995
Box 6 Folder 16
"Trade Game" poster
1993
Box 6 Folder 17
Triangle Fire Commemoration Speeches
1993-1995
Scope and Contents
Mazur, Jay
Box 6 Folder 18
Tyler, Gus
1994
Box 6 Folder 19
United States Trade Representative
1992-1993
Box 6 Folder 20
Walmart
1992-1993
Box 6 Folder 21
Yale Political Forum
1993-1994