ILGWU New York Dress Joint Board Minutes
Collection Number: 5780/033
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Title:
ILGWU New York Dress Joint Board
Minutes, 1922-1976
Collection Number:
5780/033
Creator:
New York Dress Joint
Board;
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU)
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU)
Quantity:
7 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Minutes.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and
Archives, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
Includes minutes of Joint Board, Board of Directors,
Grievance Committee, Appeal Committee, Health and Welfare Fund, and Retirement Fund
meetings.
Language:
Collection material in English
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.
Beginning in 1900, manufacturers of shirtwaists branched out and began to create
dresses. Local 25 Ladies' Waist Makers' Union was chartered in 1905 after the
reorganization of unsuccessful locals. By 1908, there were over 600 waist and dress
shops in New York employing over 30,000 workers. Long hours of 56 hour weeks,
overtime, low pay, and rampant sub-contracting led to agitation among the poorly
treated women workers. Smaller strikes throughout 1909 over the intolerable
conditions paved the way for a meeting at Cooper Union on November 22. Thousands
filled the hall when 23 year old Clara Lemlich, a striker on a picket line, rose to
spoke and called for a general strike. The "Uprising of Twenty Thousand" involved
waist makers from New York, Brooklyn, and Brownsville. Amidst hunger, cold,
imprisonment, and unscrupulous bosses, the women on the picket lines continued their
fight, the strike lasting fourteen weeks until February 15, 1910. While not a
complete success, the strike did result in individual contracts, higher wages, and a
large increase in union membership. As the industry expanded over the years, so did
the union, becoming Local 25 Waist and Dress Makers' Union, which would soon become
the biggest local in the union. In the beginning of 1913, another strike involved
30,000 workers and resulted in a collective agreement. Workers left their shops
again in February 1916 ending with a revised Protocol. It was also at this time that
Local 25 began a summer vacation resort for its members, an idea that would soon
take off with the International and become Unity House.
In 1920, Local 25 was the only local in New York for the waist and dress industry.
The large size of the local made it difficult to properly control and adequately
service all of the members. At the 1920 Convention, the General Executive Board
enacted a resolution to establish a Joint Board within Local 25 and charter separate
locals for dressmakers and waistmakers. By 1921, there was organized a Joint Board
composed of Local 22 Dressmakers, Local 25 Waistmakers, Local 58 Waist Buttonhole
Makers, Local 60 Waist and Dress Pressers, Local 66 Bonnaz Embroidery Workers, Local
89 Italian Waist and Dressmakers, and the waist and dress branch of Cutters' Local
10. The new arrangement was not without problems among the recently rearranged
locals. The new Dress and Waistmakers' Joint Board soon began new agreement
negotiations with the Dress Manufacturers' Association, and called a general strike
on February 9, 1921. Julius Hochman managed the Dress and Waistmakers' Joint Board.
With a large growth of jobbers in the industry sending work to non-union shops, the
Joint Board inaugurated a drive in the summer of 1922 to strike the big jobbing
firms and bring workers under union contracts. A general work stoppage in February
1923 in the dress industry won the union a 40 hour week and 10 percent wage
increase, as well as a large gain of new members. During the summer of 1923, after
years of discussion and deliberation, the two dress locals, Local 23 and 22 were
consolidated. The dressmakers from Local 23 transferred to Local 22 and subsequently
Local 22 joined the New York Cloakmakers' Joint Board. Later, the Dress Pressers'
Local 60 joined Local 35 the Cloak Pressers' Union. Soon, the Dress and Waist Joint
Board became unnecessary and was dissolved. Local 89, the Italian Dress and
Waistmakers' Union, affiliated with the Cloak Board as well, and both dress and
cloak industries in New York were represented by the Cloak and Dress Joint Board.
Local 25 Waistmakers were left without an affiliated organization and in October
1924 merged with the Dressmakers' Union, Local 22.
At the end of 1924, the Joint Board met with the Wholesale Dress Manufacturers'
Association and although conferences continued into 1925, but resulted in the
introduction of a sanitary label in the dress industry and an unemployment insurance
fund. The "prosanis" label in the dress industry was launched by the Sanitary Joint
Board on April 15, 1925. During the remainder of 1925, many of the dress agreements
went unenforced with the upsurge of workers in non-union plants and the internal
conflict created by the rise to power of the Communists within the local. A "peace
pact" resulted in the resignation of vice president Julius Hochman who had been
managing the dress division, replaced by a staff of Communist officials headed by
Charles Zimmerman. By the end of 1926, the Communists had gained control of the
dress organization in New York City and the union barely existed. But during 1927
and 1928, the Joint Board persisted with organizing activities in an attempt to
strengthen its position. Julius Hochman was elected general manager of the Joint
Board and later in December 1927 Elias Reisberg was elected manager of the dress
department. In 1929, the General Executive Board formed the Dress Trade Council
consisting of representatives of dress locals to begin to rehabilitate the dress
organization. Also at this time, Hochman was appointed manager of the Dress Division
of the Joint Board and launched a large dress campaign to increase membership.
Isidore Nagler served as general manager of Joint Board.
In February 4, 1930, 25,000 dressmakers walked out of the shops. And while the strike
was settled eight days later, the strike was called to reorganize dressmakers and
establish collection relationships with employers and collective agreements as well
as finally abolish the Communist influence in the industry. On April 8, 1930 the
General Executive Board decided to separate the dressmakers from the Cloakmakers'
Joint Board and give them back an autonomous joint board to govern their own
affairs. The new independent Dress Joint Board addressed dress manufacturers list of
38 demands during contract negotiations, and when an agreement could not be reached,
on February 16, 1932, a general strike of the dressmakers lasted two weeks. This
defensive strike renewed collective agreements. Another walkout in all dress shops,
both union and non-union on August 16, 1933 brought the dress industry to a halt. A
quick resolution resulted in 35 hours/5 day weeks, fixed wages for week and piece
workers, and guaranteed minimum wages. By February 1934, the Dress Joint Board moved
to new larger offices along with Locals 22 and 89, illustrating a drastic turnaround
from previous years. The dress industry was now the biggest organized center in the
ILGWU.
The historic revival of the New York dress organization in 1933 created the largest
single body of workers within the union. By the 1940s, the Dress Joint Board was
composed of Locals 89 (Italian Dressmakers), 22, 60 (Dress Pressers) and the Dress
Division of Cutters' Local 10. Added to that, in 1939 the Dress Joint Board took
over responsibility for and control over the working conditions and agreements of
silk dress production in the Eastern and the Cotton Dress Departments. The Joint
Board worked to create a WPA sewing project for unemployed dressmakers, as well as
establishing in 1938 a Samplemakers' Labor Bureau. Unfortunately, the lack of styles
during the war years caused economic problems, with shrinking production and
unemployment. With the collective agreement of March 1944, an industry-wide health
and vacation fund covered members of Locals 89, 22 and 60 and included sick
benefits, hospitalization, medical services at the Union Health Center, eye exams,
and tuberculosis aid, as well as one week's paid vacation. Additionally, a
retirement system supplemented the health and vacation fund, the Retirement Fund and
Health and Welfare Fund of the Dress Joint Board. Soon, the dress industry was back
to pre-war production levels with an increase in styles, though the industry often
had difficulty adapting to the postwar retail market and new consumer attitude. The
Joint Board launched a large scale organization drive at the end of the decade which
was met with resistance, often violent, by "for hire" thugs interfering on picket
lines and threatening Joint Board officers. Zimmerman, now a vice-president as well
as manager of Local 22, supervised the drive to organize the open shops. It was
during this drive that dress presser and temporary organizer William Lurye was
murdered in May 1949 as the open shops employed racketeering to prevent
unionization. The anti-open shop campaign succeeded in bringing union conditions and
standards to the new shops.
The New York Dress Institute was formed with the assistance of the Joint Board in
1941 to promote American fashions and establish New York as the fashion capital.
While the Joint Board suspended payments in 1944, the Institute still operated,
having fashion shows, distributing fashion photographs for publications, and
maintaining the best dressed women list. By 1953, the Dress Institute cut operation
due to lack of funds and began operating as the Couture Group of the Dress
Institute. At a GEB meeting in 1953, shipping clerks in the dress industry were
unionized to form Local 60A, a branch of Local 60. The locals in Joint Board now
included Locals 89, 22, and 60-60A Dress Pressers and Shipping Clerks. Julius
Hochman resigned as manager of the Dress Joint Board in June 1958 after 29 years
(since 1929) to direct the new ILGWU Union Label Department. He was succeeded by
Charles Zimmerman, who had been manager of Local 22 for 25 years. 1958 also saw the
formation of the Dressmakers' Joint Council, which consisted of the Joint Board, as
well as the dress sections of the Eastern Out-of-Town and Northeast Departments.
Zimmerman was also manager of the new Joint Council. Sol Greene, assistant director
of the Northeast Department, became the new assistant general manager of the Joint
Board. The Joint Board in January 1959 was the first ILGWU affiliate to introduce
the new union label.
A March 1958 walkout of 105,000 dressmakers in the New York metropolitan area was the
first general strike in 25 years. Negotiations with employers began at the end of
1957 and with no resolution in sight, the contracts, set to expire January 1958,
were extended for another month. Again, with no agreement in sight, the strike
committee set the date of March 5 for the walkout. At ten o'clock that morning,
thousands and thousands of garment workers left the shops and made their way into
the streets. Soon Madison Square Garden was filled and tens of thousands pickets
organized. A few days later, Mayor Wagner called strike leaders and appointed from
Senator Lehman and Impartial Chairman Harry Uviller to mediate the strike. The five
day general strike resulted in a new contract for workers including wage increases,
a 7 hour day/ 35 hour week for piece and time workers with overtime pay, and the
establishment of a severance fund.
The decades of the 1960s and 70s saw a decline in shops and jobs in New York City
with firms going out of business. In June 1969, Local 38 Theatrical Costume, Ladies
Tailors voted to affiliate with the Joint Board, representing theatrical costume
workers and custom tailors in departments stores. Additional diversifying included a
newly formed Local 159 of office employees in the dress industry. Charles Zimmerman
retired on July 1, 1972 as union vice president and manager of the Dress Joint
Council and New York Dress Joint Board. Murray Gross, who had been associate general
manager since 1969 became the general manager of the Joint Board and Joint Council.
The Joint Board now consisted of Locals 89, 22, 60-60A and 159 along with the new
Local 38 and 159. March 1974 saw the initial movement to reorganize the Joint Board
by combining and merging various departments. By 1975, the New York Dress Joint
Board completed restructuring of affiliate locals, and Locals 60-60A, 159, and 38
were merged into existing Locals 22 and 89. Local 22 gained jurisdiction over all
dressmakers in Manhattan and Local 89 was designated the local for all Bronx and
Brooklyn members. Vice president and general manager Murray Gross retired and Sam
Nemaizer became manager after the 1974 convention. There were changes in leadership
also as Locals 22 and 89 saw long serving managers began to retire.
In November 1977, the executive committee of the ILGWU General Executive Board
enacted a resolution that merged the existing cloak, dress, rainwear and other
affiliates in New York, thus ending the separate existence of the New York Cloak and
Dress Joint Boards. The New York Cloak-Dress Joint Board and Affiliates consisted of
Local 1-35 United Coat, Suit, Rainwear and Allied Workers Union of Manhattan; Local
10 Cutters; Local 22 Dressmakers Union of Manhattan; Local 48 Coat, Suit, Dress,
Rainwear and Allied Workers Union of North Brooklyn; Local 77 Coat, Suit, Dress,
Rainwear and Allied Workers Union of Queens; Local 89 Coat, Suit, Dress, Rainwear
and Allied Workers Union of South Brooklyn; and Local 189 Coat, Suit, Dress,
Rainwear and Allied Workers Union of the Bronx. At the same time, sportswear locals
previously under the Dress or Cloak Joint Board were now a part of the new New York
Sportswear and Allied Workers Joint Board (Local 10 Cutters; Local 23-25 Blouse,
Skirt and Sportswear Workers; Local 91 Children's Dressmakers; Local 105 Snowsuit,
Infants, and Novelty Sportswear; and Local 155 Knitgoods Workers). The new
resolution redrew existing locals' jurisdiction to represent workers along
geographic as well as industrial lines. The changes created a more efficient and
economical representation of the workers and provided greater organizing ability and
bargaining power. E. Howard Molisani, an ILGWU vice-president and manager of the
Cloak Joint Board, was elected to serve as the general manager of the new
organization. Following his retirement in July 1978, Samuel Nemaizer (formerly
manager of the Dress Joint Board) was appointed to succeed Molisani as general
manager.
In late 1981, the Joint Board approved a measure to dissolve Locals 48, 77 and 189 to
create a stronger financial foundation for the organization. Members were
transferred to Locals 22, 1-35 and 89. Local 89 was renamed Local 89- 48 to honor
the historic significance of the Italian cloakmakers. An October 1984 meeting
resulted in more restructuring of the board and locals into a new Local 89-22-1.
Changes in the garment industry necessitated the dissolution of the Joint Board and
Locals 22 and 89-48. The charter of Local 1-35 was amended to create the new Local
89-22-1. With the consolidation of staff and retirements of managers Samuel
Nemaizer, Manuel Gonzalez and Frank Longo, Samuel Byer, associate general manager of
the New York Coat-Dress-Rainwear Joint Board was elected manager of Local 89-22-1.
The New York Sportswear Joint Board was renamed the New York Joint Board in August
1985, and Locals 62-32 and 66-40 joined the existing affiliates Locals 23-25, 155,
91-105 and 10 and managed by Edgar Romney. After the retirement in 1993 of Samuel
Byer, Barbara Laufman was elected manager of Local 89-22-1. Local 89-22-1 was the
successor to some of the oldest locals in the union from the coat, dress, suite and
rainwear industries, as well as both the New York Dress and Cloak Joint Boards. In
July 1922, the New York State District merged with Local 89-22-1.
The collection of the New York Dress Joint Board is composed of five series arranged
by Committees. The first series consists of the Minutes of the Joint Board of the
Dress and Waistmakers' Union. In 1930 after the Cleveland Convention, it was voted
to separate the dress locals from the New York Joint Board. The dress locals elected
delegates, and the new entity was called the Joint Board Dress and Waistmakers'
Union of Greater New York. Locals included 10, 22, 35, 89, and the first meeting
took place on April 8, 1930. The minutes include the first meeting of April 9, 1930,
through January 21, 1976 (beginning in 1970 they minutes are no longer bound but
loose pages). Also contained are minutes of July 12, 1922-May 23, 1923, which was
during the first period from 1920-1923 when the dress and waistmakers' had their own
Joint Board before being dissolved and merged with the Cloak Joint Board.
Within the Joint Board existed various committees which had their own meetings and
minutes. The second series consists of the minutes of the Grievance Committee for
the Joint Board Dress and Waistmakers' Union, from October 18, 1933- November 11,
1964. The Grievance Committee addressed charges and cases of filed grievances, often
including cases involing working after regular hours, insubordination, not granted
permission to work (in specific shop), absent from work, etc. The minutes provide
the decision rendered by the committee, as well as the fines levied against the
defendant (if warranted).
The third series contains the Minutes of the Appeal Committee from February 5,
1934-December 31, 1949. The cases are the appeals to decisions that were previously
rendered by the Grievance Committee. Also included in this series are the minutes
for the meetings of the Committee on Claims of the Joint Board Health and Welfare
Fund (March 20, 1945-December 29, 1952). These appeals deal with sick benefits, time
away from work for illness, leave of absences, and other claims, as well as
decisions from the committee.
The fourth series consists of meeting minutes for the Health Fund Committee (later
Health and Welfare Fund) beginning in January 10, 1945 and proceeding until 1970.
Additionally, there are included the rules and regulations for the Health Fund which
was adopted on December 27, 1944, and the terms, conditions, and eligibilities for
benefits. Included within the minutes is also correspondence and reports, and
supplemental information such as financial statements.
The fifth and final series contains financial statements and meeting minutes for the
Retirement Fund of the Dress Industry of New York.
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
-- New York Dress Joint Board.
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.
Industrial relations -- United States.
Industrial relations -- New York (State) -- New
York.
Form and Genre Terms:
Minutes.
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 New York Dress Joint Board Minutes #5780/033. Kheel Center for
Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections:
5780: ILGWU records
5780/047: ILGWU Joint Board Dress & Waistmakers' Union of Greater New York Managers' Correspondence
5780/137: ILGWU Dressmakers Joint Board Clippings
5780/164: ILGWU Joint Board Shop Lists
5780/014: ILGWU Local 22, Charles S. Zimmerman Papers
5780/015: ILGWU Local 22 Records
5780/036: ILGWU Local 22 Minutes
5780/059: ILGWU Local 23-25 Records
5780/042: ILGWU Local 25 Publication "L'Operaia"
5780/031: ILGWU Local 35 Records
5780/019: ILGWU Local 38 Minutes
5780/023: ILGWU Local 89 Luigi Antonini Correspondence
5780/024: ILGWU Local 89 Records
5780/064: ILGWU Local 89 Minutes
5780/213: ILGWU Local 89-22-1. Records
5780: ILGWU records
5780/047: ILGWU Joint Board Dress & Waistmakers' Union of Greater New York Managers' Correspondence
5780/137: ILGWU Dressmakers Joint Board Clippings
5780/164: ILGWU Joint Board Shop Lists
5780/014: ILGWU Local 22, Charles S. Zimmerman Papers
5780/015: ILGWU Local 22 Records
5780/036: ILGWU Local 22 Minutes
5780/059: ILGWU Local 23-25 Records
5780/042: ILGWU Local 25 Publication "L'Operaia"
5780/031: ILGWU Local 35 Records
5780/019: ILGWU Local 38 Minutes
5780/023: ILGWU Local 89 Luigi Antonini Correspondence
5780/024: ILGWU Local 89 Records
5780/064: ILGWU Local 89 Minutes
5780/213: ILGWU Local 89-22-1. Records
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 1 | 1922-1923 | |
Box 1 | Folder 2 | 1930-1931 | |
Box 1 | Folder 3 | 1932-1933 | |
Box 1 | Folder 4 | 1933-1936 | |
Box 1 | Folder 5 | 1939-1942 | |
Box 1 | Folder 6 | 1939-1942 | |
Box 1 | Folder 7 | 1943-1943 | |
Box 2 | Folder 1 | 1946-1949 | |
Box 2 | Folder 2 | 1950-1951 | |
Box 2 | Folder 3 | 1952-1953 | |
Box 2 | Folder 4 | 1954-1955 | |
Box 2 | Folder 5 | 1956 | |
Box 2 | Folder 6 | 1957 | |
Box 2 | Folder 7 | 1958 | |
Box 3 | Folder 1 | 1959 | |
Box 3 | Folder 2 | 1960 | |
Box 3 | Folder 3 | 1961 | |
Box 3 | Folder 4 | 1962 | |
Box 3 | Folder 5 | 1963 | |
Box 3 | Folder 6 | 1964 | |
Box 3 | Folder 7 | 1965 | |
Box 4 | Folder 1 | 1966 | |
Box 4 | Folder 2 | 1967 | |
Box 4 | Folder 3 | 1968 | |
Box 4 | Folder 4 | 1969 | |
Box 4 | Folder 5 | 1970 | |
Box 4 | Folder 6 | 1970 | |
Box 4 | Folder 7 | 1971 | |
Box 4 | Folder 8 | 1971 | |
Box 4 | Folder 9 | 1972 | |
Box 4 | Folder 10 | 1972 | |
Box 4 | Folder 11 | 1973 | |
Box 4 | Folder 12 | 1973 | |
Box 4 | Folder 13 | 1974-1976 | |
Box 4 | Folder 14 | 1974-1976 | |
Box 5 | Folder 1 | 1933-1936 | |
Book I
|
|||
Box 5 | Folder 2 | 1937-1942 | |
Book II
|
|||
Box 5 | Folder 3 | 1943-1946 | |
Book III
|
|||
Box 5 | Folder 4 | 1947-1949 | |
Book IV
|
|||
Box 5 | Folder 5 | 1956-1957 | |
Book V
|
|||
Box 5 | Folder 6 | 1958-1964 | |
Book VI
|
|||
Box 5 | Folder 7 | 1934-1942 | |
Book I
|
|||
Box 5 | Folder 8 | 1943-1949 | |
Book II
|
|||
Box 6 | Folder 1 | 1945-1949 | |
Vol. I
|
|||
Box 6 | Folder 2 | 1950-1951 | |
Vol. II
|
|||
Box 6 | Folder 3 | 1952 | |
Box 6 | Folder 4 | 1952 | |
Box 6 | Folder 5 | 1944-1953 | |
Box 6 | Folder 6 | 1944-1953 | |
Box 6 | Folder 7 | 1953-1956 | |
Box 6 | Folder 8 | 1953-1956 | |
Box 6 | Folder 9 | 1957-1959 | |
Box 6 | Folder 10 | 1960-1964 | |
Vol. I
|
|||
Box 6 | Folder 11 | 1960-1964 | |
Vol. I
|
|||
Box 6 | Folder 12 | 1964-1966 | |
Vol. II
|
|||
Box 6 | Folder 13 | 1964-1966 | |
Vol. II
|
|||
Box 7 | Folder 1 | 1966-1967 | |
Vol. III
|
|||
Box 7 | Folder 2 | 1966-1967 | |
Vol. III
|
|||
Box 7 | Folder 3 | 1968-1969 | |
Vol. IV
|
|||
Box 7 | Folder 4 | 1968-1969 | |
Vol. IV
|
|||
Box 7 | Folder 5 | 1969 | |
Box 7 | Folder 6 | 1970 | |
Box 7 | Folder 7 | 1953 | |
Box 7 | Folder 8 | 1954 | |
Box 7 | Folder 9 | 1956 | |
Box 7 | Folder 10 | 1957 | |
Box 7 | Folder 11 | 1959 | |
Box 7 | Folder 12 | 1960 | |
Box 7 | Folder 13 | 1961 | |
Box 7 | Folder 14 | 1952 | |
Box 7 | Folder 15 | 1949-1955 | |
Box 7 | Folder 16 | 1949-1955 | |
Box 7 | Folder 17 | 1956-1960 | |
Box 7 | Folder 18 | 1956-1960 | |
Box 7 | Folder 19 | 1956-1960 | |
Box 7 | Folder 20 | 1961-1965 | |
Box 7 | Folder 21 | 1961-1965 |