ILGWU Local 62 Records
Collection Number: 5780/021
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Title:
ILGWU Local 62 Records, 1913-1971
Collection Number:
5780/021
Creator:
ILGWU Local 62;
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU)
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU)
Quantity:
3 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Records .
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and
Archives, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
The collection contains minutes of Local 62's Executive
Board's meetings between 1913 and 1971, as well as issues of the local's
publication, Our Union, from 1935 to 1970.
Language:
Collection material in English, Yiddish
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.
The White Goods Workers' Union Local 62, also known as the Underwear and White Goods
Workers Union, was chartered in 1909, but was not fully organized until 1913. Rose
Schneiderman and the Women's Trade Union League assisted with the early organizing
efforts of the White Goods Workers. These workers consisted mainly of young
immigrant girls. Early leaders of the local included Samuel Shore. On March 1913,
15,000 workers went on strike against the sweatshop conditions. A six week strike
ensued in which many of the girls on the picket lines were attacked and arrested.
Gains won included a 54 hour week, no Sunday, sanitary conditions and an 18 cent an
hour minimum wage. This strike made the local.
The local and its workers were originally called white goods workers as they
manufactured camisoles, chemises, cambric drawers with lace ruffles and drawstrings,
and corset covers. Through the years, styles changed and production shifted to
panties and slips. In the 1960s, the local became the Undergarment and Negligee
Workers' Union Local 62.
The collection contains minutes of Local 62's Executive Board's meetings, as well as
issues of the local's publication, "Our Union," from 1935 to 1970. The earliest
minutes of the Executive Board of Local 62 date to 1913 and run until 1971. These
bound meeting minutes are in Yiddish. Later copies of minutes were bound with
reports and financial statements.
"Our Union" was the official publication of the local that began in February 1935.
The bulletin was printed monthly and includes information on the industry,
agreements, education, recreation, and culture. Later years include a section in
Spanish.
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
Local 62 (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
Women's clothing industry--United States.
Women's clothing industry--New York (State)--New
York.
Labor unions--Clothing workers--United States.
Labor unions--Clothing workers--New York
(State)--New York.
Clothing workers--United States.
Clothing workers--New York (State)--New York.
Form and Genre Terms:
Records.
Access Restrictions:
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a
reference archivist for access to these materials.
Restrictions on Use:
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet
and Procedures for Document Use.
Cite As:
ILGWU Local 62 Records #5780/021. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation
and Archives, Cornell University Library.
|
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
| Box 1 | Folder 1 | 1913-1915 | |
|
Yiddish
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 2 | 1915-1919 | |
|
Yiddish
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 3 | 1923-1930 | |
|
Yiddish. Fragile
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 4 | 1930 | |
|
Yiddish
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 5 | 1963-1970 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 1 | 1933-1936 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 2 | 1937 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 3 | 1938 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 4 | 1939 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 5 | 1940 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 6 | 1941 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 7 | 1942 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 8 | 1943 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 9 | 1944 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 10 | 1945 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 11 | 1946 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 12 | 1947 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 13 | 1948-1950 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 14 | 1951-1955 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 15 | 1956-1958 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 16 | 1959-1960 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 17 | 1961-1962 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 1 | 1963-1964 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 2 | 1965-1968 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 3 | 1968-1971 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 4 | 1935-1941 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 5 | 1942-1944 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 6 | 1945-1947 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 7 | 1945-1947 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 8 | 1948-1950 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 9 | 1948-1950 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 10 | 1948-1950 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 11 | 1951-1955 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 12 | 1951-1955 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 13 | 1956-1959 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 14 | 1956-1959 | |
| Box 3 | Folder 15 | 1960-1962 | |