ILGWU. Cleveland Joint Board records, 1934-1959
Collection Number: 5780/048
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
ILGWU. Cleveland Joint Board records, 1934-1959
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/048
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).
Creator:
Cleveland Joint Board
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Quanitities:
3.5 cubic feet
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)
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference
archivist for access to these materials.
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and
Procedures for Document Use.
INFORMATION FOR USERS
ILGWU. Cleveland Joint Board records #5780/048. Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Names:
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.
CONTAINER LIST
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 1 |
American Federation of Labor
|
1940-1943 |
Box 1 | Folder 2 |
American Labor Party
|
1937-1939 |
Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Amun-Israeli Housing Corp.
|
1950-1956 |
Box 1 | Folder 4 |
B
|
1945-1948 |
Scope and Contents
Incl. Union's response to Brookings Institute survey of garment industry, 1945.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 5 |
The Bloomfield Co. [folder 1 of 2]
|
1950-1959 |
Scope and Contents
Incl. organizing circulars & related printed material.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 6 |
The Bloomfield Co. [folder 2 of 2]
|
1950-1959 |
Box 1 | Folder 7 |
Bogen Silk Underwear Co.
|
1939-1946 |
Box 1 | Folder 8 |
Brandeis, Louis D., Colony in Palestine
|
1942-1943 |
Box 1 | Folder 9 |
B.V.D. Co. [folder 1 of 2]
|
1955-1956 |
Scope and Contents
Organizing campaign.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 10 |
B.V.D. Co. [folder 2 of 2]
|
1955-1956 |
Box 1 | Folder 11 |
C
|
1940-1949 |
Box 1 | Folder 12 |
The Cashmere Corp. of America
|
1952 |
Scope and Contents
Organizing campaign.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 13 |
Chattanooga, Tenn.
|
1944-1945 |
Scope and Contents
Ltrs. from John S. Martin.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 14 |
Chicago Jt. Bd.
|
1941-1948 |
Box 1 | Folder 15 |
Cincinnati, O
|
1940-1941 |
Scope and Contents
Expenses for various shops on strike; expense account summaries.
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 16 |
Cleveland Apparel Manufacturers Association [folder 1 of 2]
|
1941-1948 |
Box 1 | Folder 17 |
Cleveland Apparel Manufacturers Association [folder 2 of 2]
|
1941-1948 |
Box 2 | Folder 1 |
Cleveland Dress Manufacturers Association
|
1941-1949 |
Box 2 | Folder 2 |
Cleveland Embroidery Manufacturers Association
|
1938-1945 |
Box 2 | Folder 3 |
Cleveland Federation of Labor
|
1941-1946 |
Box 2 | Folder 4 |
Committee for the Nation's Health
|
1952 |
Scope and Contents
Incl. Nicholas Kirtzman statement to the President's Commission on the Health of the
Nation.
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 5 |
Community Fund War Chest
|
1943-1945 |
Box 2 | Folder 6 |
Congress of Industrial Organizations (Ohio) [folder 1 of 2]
|
1942-1946 |
Box 2 | Folder 7 |
Congress of Industrial Organizations (Ohio) [folder 2 of 2]
|
1942-1946 |
Box 2 | Folder 8 |
Conventions, Union
|
1947 |
Box 2 | Folder 9 |
Corrigan, William J.
|
1939-1944 |
Scope and Contents
Legal advisor for Union.
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 10 |
D
|
1941-1949 |
Box 2 | Folder 11 |
Education [folder 1 of 2]
|
1940-1949 |
Scope and Contents
Union and non-union material
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 12 |
Education [folder 2 of 2]
|
1940-1949 |
Box 2 | Folder 13 |
Elyria Branch
|
1944-1946 |
Box 2 | Folder 14 |
F
|
1941-1949 |
Scope and Contents
Incl. ltrs. to Louis Friend.
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 15 |
Famous Dress Co.
|
1941-1949 |
Box 2 | Folder 16 |
Form Letters
|
1940-1945 |
Box 3 | Folder 1 |
Freie Arbeiter Stimme
|
1951-1953 |
Box 3 | Folder 2 |
G
|
1940-1949 |
Box 3 | Folder 3 |
Gottfried Co.
|
1941-1949 |
Box 3 | Folder 4 |
Government
|
1941-1947 |
Scope and Contents
Corres. with members of all government branches.
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 5 |
Haas and Bernstein Co.
|
1944-1945 |
Box 3 | Folder 6 |
Haskel, Hannah
|
1940-1942 |
Box 3 | Folder 7 |
Huntington, W. Va.
|
1941-1945 |
Box 3 | Folder 8 |
I
|
1939-1945 |
Box 3 | Folder 9 |
Impartial Chairman
|
1942-1946 |
Box 3 | Folder 10 |
ILGWU Campaign Committee
|
1944 |
Box 3 | Folder 11 |
Israel
|
1948-1952 |
Box 3 | Folder 12 |
J
|
1940-1943 |
Box 3 | Folder 13 |
Jewish Consumptive and Ex-Patients' Relief Association
|
1939-1945 |
Scope and Contents
Incl. Los Angeles Sanatorium, City of Hope.
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 14 |
Jewish Labor Committee
|
1940-1955 |
Box 3 | Folder 15 |
Johnny Sportswear Mfg. Co.
|
1945 |
Box 3 | Folder 16 |
Joint Board Minutes
|
1942-1944 |
Scope and Contents
Misc.
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 17 |
Justice
|
1941-1949 |
Scope and Contents
Reports of activities submitted to Justice.
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 18 |
K
|
1942-1955 |
Scope and Contents
Incl. Abraham Katovsky.
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 19 |
Keller-Kohn Co., Inc. [folder 1 of 3]
|
1939-1954 |
Box 3 | Folder 20 |
Keller-Kohn Co., Inc. [folder 2 of 3]
|
1939-1954 |
Box 3 | Folder 21 |
Keller-Kohn Co., Inc. [folder 3 of 3]
|
1939-1954 |
Box 4 | Folder 1 |
Kleinman Cloak Co.
|
1940-1946 |
Box 4 | Folder 2 |
Knitted Outerwear Industry
|
1941 |
Box 4 | Folder 3 |
L
|
1941-1949 |
Box 4 | Folder 4 |
Lampl Sportswear Manufacturing Co.
|
1941-1952 |
Box 4 | Folder 5 |
Lewis Knitting Mills
|
1941-1947 |
Box 4 | Folder 6 |
Lieberman, Elias
|
1939-1944 |
Box 4 | Folder 7 |
Locals 26 and 29
|
1942-1949 |
Box 4 | Folder 8 |
Local 37
|
1941-1945 |
Box 4 | Folder 9 |
Local 63
|
1940-1946 |
Scope and Contents
I.c.w. David Solomon.
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 10 |
Local 42
|
1940-1942 |
Box 4 | Folder 11 |
Local 67, Toledo, O [folder 1 of 2]
|
1939-1956 |
Box 4 | Folder 12 |
Local 67, Toledo, O [folder 2 of 2]
|
1939-1956 |
Box 4 | Folder 13 |
Local 175, Conneaut, O.
|
1934-1942 |
Box 4 | Folder 14 |
Local 175
|
1945-1953 |
Box 4 | Folder 15 |
Local 175
|
1945-1953 |
Box 4 | Folder 16 |
Lingerie Workers Local 175
|
1945-1953 |
Box 5 | Folder 1 |
Locals 200, 207 and 211
|
1934-1950 |
Box 5 | Folder 2 |
Local 368, 466, Toledo, O.
|
1942-1956 |
Box 5 | Folder 3 |
Locals, Miscellaneous
|
1940-1949 |
Box 5 | Folder 4 |
Locals, Miscellaneous (outside of Ohio)
|
1940-1951 |
Box 5 | Folder 5 |
L.N. Gross Co.
|
1941-1945 |
Box 5 | Folder 6 |
L.N. Gross Co.
|
1946-1949 |
Box 5 | Folder 7 |
Los Angeles Jt. Bd.
|
1939-1949 |
Box 5 | Folder 8 |
M
|
1940-1949 |
Box 5 | Folder 9 |
Members in Armed Services
|
1940-1949 |
Box 5 | Folder 10 |
Miller Cloak Shop
|
1940-1945 |
Box 5 | Folder 11 |
Miss Mode Co.
|
1940-1946 |
Box 5 | Folder 12 |
N
|
1945-1949 |
Box 5 | Folder 13 |
National Committee for Labor Israel -Histadrut
|
1941-1946 |
Box 5 | Folder 14 |
National Labor Relations Board
|
1941 |
Scope and Contents
Incl. hearings of cases.
|
|||
Box 5 | Folder 15 |
The Nubone Company, Inc., Erie, Pa.
|
1948 |
Box 5 | Folder 16 |
0
|
1941-1944 |
Scope and Contents
Incl. resolutions submitted to Ohio State Federation of Labor.
|
|||
Box 6 | Folder 1 |
Office of Price Administration
|
1945 |
Box 6 | Folder 2 |
Ohio Apparel Manufacturers Association and ILGWU
|
1937 |
Scope and Contents
Hearing for the consideration of amendments or modifications of agreement.
|
|||
Box 6 | Folder 3 |
Ohio Wesleyan University
|
1952 |
Scope and Contents
Talk delivered by N. Kirtzman.
|
|||
Box 6 | Folder 4 |
One Dollar and Twenty-Five Cents-Minimum Wage
|
1955 |
Box 6 | Folder 5 |
Orphans Adopted by ILGWU
|
1956 |
Box 6 | Folder 6 |
P
|
1940-1949 |
Box 6 | Folder 7 |
Philadelphia Joint Board
|
1940-1945 |
Box 6 | Folder 8 |
The Pollack-Altman Co.
|
1941-1948 |
Box 6 | Folder 9 |
The Printz-Biederman Co.
|
1934-1953 |
Box 6 | Folder 10 |
The Printz-Biederman Co.
|
1954 |
Box 6 | Folder 11 |
Quality Manufacturing Co., Point Pleasant, W.Va.
|
1945-1950 |
Box 6 | Folder 12 |
R
|
1941-1954 |
Scope and Contents
Incl. resolutions.
|
|||
Box 6 | Folder 13 |
Research Department
|
1941-1946 |
Box 6 | Folder 14 |
Richmond, Ind.
|
1950-1955 |
Box 6 | Folder 15 |
Ritmor Sportswear Co.
|
1942-1945 |
Box 7 | Folder 1 |
Rosenfeld, William H.
|
1944-1953 |
Box 7 | Folder 2 |
Rudolph Stern Dress Co., Inc.
|
1938-1940 |
Box 7 | Folder 3 |
Rudolph Stern Dress Co., Inc.
|
1941-1942 |
Box 7 | Folder 4 |
S
|
1941-1952 |
Box 7 | Folder 5 |
Sicherman, George S., Inc.
|
1941-1946 |
Box 7 | Folder 6 |
Solomon, Nathan
|
1941-1944 |
Box 7 | Folder 7 |
Speeches and Statements
|
1939-1949 |
Box 7 | Folder 8 |
Statistical Data
|
1941 |
Scope and Contents
Nov. 1941. Charts and tables, Cleveland Cloak Industry.
|
|||
Box 7 | Folder 9 |
T
|
1940-1955 |
Scope and Contents
Incl. Toledo Garment Co.
|
|||
Box 7 | Folder 10 |
U
|
1940-1947 |
Box 7 | Folder 11 |
U.S. Labor Department
|
1942-1944 |
Box 7 | Folder 12 |
Urban League
|
1952-1953 |
Box 7 | Folder 13 |
W
|
1939-1953 |
Box 7 | Folder 14 |
War Relief Agencies
|
1940-1949 |
Scope and Contents
Collections of money during World War II for relief.
|