ILGWU. Cleveland Joint Board records
Collection Number: 5780/048
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Title:
ILGWU. Cleveland Joint Board records, 1934-1959
Collection Number:
5780/048
Creator:
Cleveland Joint Board
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Quantity:
3.5 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Minutes.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
Contains correspondence, memoranda, printed material on companies and local unions throughout Ohio, and files on the Los Angeles
Joint Board and Philadelphia Joint Board. Also included are files on several Cleveland locals (26, 29, 37, 42, 63, 200, 207,
211), as well as locals in Toledo (67, 368, 466), and Conneaut (175).
Language:
Collection material in English
Founded in 1900 by local union delegates representing about 2,000 members in cities in the northeastern United States, the
ILGWU grew in geographical scope, membership size, 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. In 1995, the ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated Clothing
and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) to form the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE).
Cleveland had a garment industry very early on, in fact, a Cloak Pressers' Protective Union was formed in 1899, before the
founding of the ILGWU. The early Cleveland Joint Board consisted of Cloak and Suit Tailors 26, Skirt and Dress Makers 27,
Women Garment Makers 29, Ladies' Garment Pressers 37, Ladies' Garment Cutters 42, Sample and Ladies Tailors 94.
Strikes and low membership decimated the union in Cleveland from the strike of 1911 until the near closure of the Joint Board
in 1916. The union had a difficult time gaining a position in the cloak and suit trade of the city. By the summer of 1917,
membership in the Joint Board had risen significantly and in 1918, the union and the Joint Board submitted demands to the
Cleveland Garment Manufacturers' Association for a wage increase. After a strike, a Board of Referees was established to hear
the controversy and render decisions. Relations between manufacturers and the Joint Board were strained, but in 1919, a collective
agreement was signed by the manufacturers' associations and the Cleveland Joint Board finally and firmly establishing the
union in Cleveland after a decade of struggle. During this time, Charles Kreindler was the manager of the Joint Board.
In the 1920s, Cleveland was one of the only large cities that did not subscribe to a 44 hour week and week-work in the garment
industry. Instead, the shops that manufactured medium priced garments utilized the section system, which required less skilled
labor and posed a challenge for the Cleveland cloakmakers. An investigation by Cleveland Joint Board and the Cloak Manufacturers''
Association established standards of production. In 1932, there was the Cleveland Cloak and Dress Strike. Hearings were conducted
in 1938 before an impartial chairman to eliminate differences between the New York and Cleveland Cloak markets. By 1944, the
Joint Board had established vacations with pay for all garment workers in the market, as well as adding a health plan with
medical care, sick benefits and life insurance. The Joint Board was comprised of Locals 26, 27, 29, 37, 42, 44, 52, 207, 209,
211, 300, 358, and 368. The Joint Board and Ohio district were headed by Abraham Katovsky, who had been a
business agent under Kreindler, and helmed the Cleveland Joint Board until his death in 1945. He was succeeded by Nathan
Solomon as the new manager. Solomon had been serving as the secretary treasurer for many years. Approximately 1,000 knitgood
workers in Cleveland were organized into four locals comprising the Cleveland Knitgoods Council. This Council was supervised
by the head of the Cleveland Joint Board. During the early 1950s, Louis Friend managed the Joint Board, and Nicholas Kirtzman
was the director of the Cleveland and Ohio-Kentucky Region.
A new headquarters for the Cleveland ILGWU Health Center and Ohio-Kentucky regional headquarters was dedicated in 1951. David
Solomon manager of the Joint Board for many years after Friend, retired April 1956, and the organizer of the Joint Board,
Julius Guralnik, took over duties as manager of the Cleveland Joint Board. From 1959 into the 1960s, with the Cleveland cloak
market declining into insignificance, a shift in the Ohio-Kentucky Region took place from an emphasis on the cloak industry
towards sportswear, knitgoods, and dresses. The Cleveland Knitgoods Council made significant membership gains. By 1962, Kirtzman
became director and manager of the Joint Board, with Edward Milano the assistant director, and the steady decline in membership
in Cleveland within the shrinking cloak and dress industry began to stabilize.
Kirtzman, an ILGWU vice-president and regional director since 1950, died in March 1963. Sam Janis, who was previously an assistant
general manager of the Eastern Region, succeeded Kirtzman as the new Ohio-Kentucky Region director and was also elected manager
of the Cleveland Joint Board. In 1968, Janis and the Joint Board were involved in the successful campaign for Carl Stokes
election as mayor of Cleveland. Stokes was the first African American mayor of a large U.S. city, and Manager Janis was appointed
to the mayor's commission as a labor representative to study the welfare crisis in the city. During the 1970s, the Joint Board
was involved in community and political activities, including submitting a proposal to ease procedures for voter registration.
In 1978, there was a realignment of the Ohio-Kentucky Region and all Ohio locals became part of the Northeast and Western
Pennsylvania Department, renamed the Northeast, Western Pennsylvania and Ohio Department. Sam Janis retired in May 1978 and
Al Gargiulo, who had been the assistant regional director, became the manager of the Cleveland Joint Board, as well as the
Knitgoods Council and the Ohio District.
The records of the Cleveland Joint Board mainly consist of subject files arranged alphabetically. The subjects reflect the
interest and activity of the Joint Board within the community. Topics covered include: Amun Israeli Housing and the campaign
drive in Cleveland to raise funds including a luncheon with Dubinsky; community and local religious groups in Cleveland; fund
contributions (for the war) by shops and members; the Italian American Labor Council; seeking funds and donations for health
organizations such as the Los Angeles Sanatorium and Ex-Patients Home, the Jew Consumptive and Ex-Patients Relief Association,
City of Hope and the Jewish Orthodox Old Home (support organization); letters and postcard from members currently in the military,
often thanking the union for the care packages sent; monetary collections from members for war relief; and letters from orphans
in Europe that the Joint Board "adopted."
In addition to community and good will activities, the collection also focuses on the Joint Board and its work within the
garment industry in Cleveland. There is organizing material for various plants such as the Bloomfield Co., which includes
leaflets, newsletters and election material; the BVD non-union unfair campaign; Keller Kohn and price lists, agreements, wage
adjustments, the strike following the lockout (photos); and notice for shop meetings, wage comparisons for companies like
Kleinman Cloak Co. There is information on manufacturing associations such as the Cleveland Apparel Manufacturers Association
which represented various firms in negotiations and contract agreements with the Joint Board, the Cleveland Dress Manufacturers
Association, and the Cleveland Embroidery Manufacturers Association, as well as firms with government contracts and the knit
good industry. Also, a report compiled in 1941 includes charts, graphs and tables illustrating the cost of living, hours
worked, hourly wages and total pay for operators, pressers, etc. within the Cleveland Cloak industry. But the collection
also contains material on other regions and locals including Chicago and Cincinnati.
Groups and organizations are represented in the collection including the C.I.O., Cleveland Federation of Labor, and Jewish
Labor Committee. There is also documents relating to the ILGWU such as informational material produced by the Educational
Department, as well as information on classes, lectures offered, activity reports, and programs for shows and parties. There
is correspondence with local representatives and congressmen, hand written meeting minutes, submissions for the publication
"Justice" to editor Max Danish, and meeting notices for locals under the Joint Board.
Locals 26 (Cloak and Suit Tailors), Local 27 (Dress and Skirt Makers), Local 29 (Women Garment Makers), Local 37 (Cloak and
Dress Pressers), Local 42 (Cloak and Dress Cutters), Local 44 (Italian Cloak & Dress Makers), Local 52 Embroidery Workers,
Local 209 (Cotton Goods Local), Local 211 (Alteration Local), Local 295 (Knit Goods Workers Local), Local 326 (Cotton Dress
Garment Local)
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. -- Cleveland Joint Board (Cleveland (Ohio)).
Subjects:
Women's clothing industry -- United States.
Women's clothing industry -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Clothing workers -- Labor unions -- United States.
Clothing workers -- Labor unions -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Clothing workers -- United States.
Clothing workers -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Industrial relations -- United States.
Industrial relations -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
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. Cleveland Joint Board records #5780/048. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University
Library.
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 1 | 1940-1943 | |
Box 1 | Folder 2 | 1937-1939 | |
Box 1 | Folder 3 | 1950-1956 | |
Box 1 | Folder 4 | 1945-1948 | |
Incl. Union's response to Brookings Institute survey of garment industry, 1945.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 5 | 1950-1959 | |
Incl. organizing circulars & related printed material.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 6 | 1950-1959 | |
Box 1 | Folder 7 | 1939-1946 | |
Box 1 | Folder 8 | 1942-1943 | |
Box 1 | Folder 9 | 1955-1956 | |
Organizing campaign.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 10 | 1955-1956 | |
Box 1 | Folder 11 | 1940-1949 | |
Box 1 | Folder 12 | 1952 | |
Organizing campaign.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 13 | 1944-1945 | |
Ltrs. from John S. Martin.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 14 | 1941-1948 | |
Box 1 | Folder 15 | 1940-1941 | |
Expenses for various shops on strike; expense account summaries.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 16 | 1941-1948 | |
Box 1 | Folder 17 | 1941-1948 | |
Box 2 | Folder 1 | 1941-1949 | |
Box 2 | Folder 2 | 1938-1945 | |
Box 2 | Folder 3 | 1941-1946 | |
Box 2 | Folder 4 | 1952 | |
Incl. Nicholas Kirtzman statement to the President's Commission on the Health of the Nation.
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 5 | 1943-1945 | |
Box 2 | Folder 6 | 1942-1946 | |
Box 2 | Folder 7 | 1942-1946 | |
Box 2 | Folder 8 | 1947 | |
Box 2 | Folder 9 | 1939-1944 | |
Legal advisor for Union.
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 10 | 1941-1949 | |
Box 2 | Folder 11 | 1940-1949 | |
Union and non-union material
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 12 | 1940-1949 | |
Box 2 | Folder 13 | 1944-1946 | |
Box 2 | Folder 14 | 1941-1949 | |
Incl. ltrs. to Louis Friend.
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 15 | 1941-1949 | |
Box 2 | Folder 16 | 1940-1945 | |
Box 3 | Folder 1 | 1951-1953 | |
Box 3 | Folder 2 | 1940-1949 | |
Box 3 | Folder 3 | 1941-1949 | |
Box 3 | Folder 4 | 1941-1947 | |
Corres. with members of all government branches.
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 5 | 1944-1945 | |
Box 3 | Folder 6 | 1940-1942 | |
Box 3 | Folder 7 | 1941-1945 | |
Box 3 | Folder 8 | 1939-1945 | |
Box 3 | Folder 9 | 1942-1946 | |
Box 3 | Folder 10 | 1944 | |
Box 3 | Folder 11 | 1948-1952 | |
Box 3 | Folder 12 | 1940-1943 | |
Box 3 | Folder 13 | 1939-1945 | |
Incl. Los Angeles Sanatorium, City of Hope.
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 14 | 1940-1955 | |
Box 3 | Folder 15 | 1945 | |
Box 3 | Folder 16 | 1942-1944 | |
Misc.
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 17 | 1941-1949 | |
Reports of activities submitted to Justice.
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 18 | 1942-1955 | |
Incl. Abraham Katovsky.
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 19 | 1939-1954 | |
Box 3 | Folder 20 | 1939-1954 | |
Box 3 | Folder 21 | 1939-1954 | |
Box 4 | Folder 1 | 1940-1946 | |
Box 4 | Folder 2 | 1941 | |
Box 4 | Folder 3 | 1941-1949 | |
Box 4 | Folder 4 | 1941-1952 | |
Box 4 | Folder 5 | 1941-1947 | |
Box 4 | Folder 6 | 1939-1944 | |
Box 4 | Folder 7 | 1942-1949 | |
Box 4 | Folder 8 | 1941-1945 | |
Box 4 | Folder 9 | 1940-1946 | |
I.c.w. David Solomon.
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 10 | 1940-1942 | |
Box 4 | Folder 11 | 1939-1956 | |
Box 4 | Folder 12 | 1939-1956 | |
Box 4 | Folder 13 | 1934-1942 | |
Box 4 | Folder 14 | 1945-1953 | |
Box 4 | Folder 15 | 1945-1953 | |
Box 4 | Folder 16 | 1945-1953 | |
Box 5 | Folder 1 | 1934-1950 | |
Box 5 | Folder 2 | 1942-1956 | |
Box 5 | Folder 3 | 1940-1949 | |
Box 5 | Folder 4 | 1940-1951 | |
Box 5 | Folder 5 | 1941-1945 | |
Box 5 | Folder 6 | 1946-1949 | |
Box 5 | Folder 7 | 1939-1949 | |
Box 5 | Folder 8 | 1940-1949 | |
Box 5 | Folder 9 | 1940-1949 | |
Box 5 | Folder 10 | 1940-1945 | |
Box 5 | Folder 11 | 1940-1946 | |
Box 5 | Folder 12 | 1945-1949 | |
Box 5 | Folder 13 | 1941-1946 | |
Box 5 | Folder 14 | 1941 | |
Incl. hearings of cases.
|
|||
Box 5 | Folder 15 | 1948 | |
Box 5 | Folder 16 | 1941-1944 | |
Incl. resolutions submitted to Ohio State Federation of Labor.
|
|||
Box 6 | Folder 1 | 1945 | |
Box 6 | Folder 2 | 1937 | |
Hearing for the consideration of amendments or modifications of agreement.
|
|||
Box 6 | Folder 3 | 1952 | |
Talk delivered by N. Kirtzman.
|
|||
Box 6 | Folder 4 | 1955 | |
Box 6 | Folder 5 | 1956 | |
Box 6 | Folder 6 | 1940-1949 | |
Box 6 | Folder 7 | 1940-1945 | |
Box 6 | Folder 8 | 1941-1948 | |
Box 6 | Folder 9 | 1934-1953 | |
Box 6 | Folder 10 | 1954 | |
Box 6 | Folder 11 | 1945-1950 | |
Box 6 | Folder 12 | 1941-1954 | |
Incl. resolutions.
|
|||
Box 6 | Folder 13 | 1941-1946 | |
Box 6 | Folder 14 | 1950-1955 | |
Box 6 | Folder 15 | 1942-1945 | |
Box 7 | Folder 1 | 1944-1953 | |
Box 7 | Folder 2 | 1938-1940 | |
Box 7 | Folder 3 | 1941-1942 | |
Box 7 | Folder 4 | 1941-1952 | |
Box 7 | Folder 5 | 1941-1946 | |
Box 7 | Folder 6 | 1941-1944 | |
Box 7 | Folder 7 | 1939-1949 | |
Box 7 | Folder 8 | 1941 | |
Nov. 1941. Charts and tables, Cleveland Cloak Industry.
|
|||
Box 7 | Folder 9 | 1940-1955 | |
Incl. Toledo Garment Co.
|
|||
Box 7 | Folder 10 | 1940-1947 | |
Box 7 | Folder 11 | 1942-1944 | |
Box 7 | Folder 12 | 1952-1953 | |
Box 7 | Folder 13 | 1939-1953 | |
Box 7 | Folder 14 | 1940-1949 | |
Collections of money during World War II for relief.
|