ILGWU. Local 89 minutes,, 1919-1968.
Collection Number: 5780/064
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
ILGWU. Local 89 minutes, 1919-1968.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/064
Abstract:
This collection contains records of International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union Local
64, the Italian Dressmakers' Union of New York City. Materials include meeting minutes.
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Local 89 (New York, N.Y.)
Quanitities:
4 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English and Italian.
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.
Local 89 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), also known as
the Italian Dressmakers' Union, was based in New York, New York.
This collection contains records of International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union Local
64, the Italian Dressmakers' Union of New York City. Materials include meeting minutes.
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.
INFORMATION FOR USERS
ILGWU. Local 89 minutes. 5780/064. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation
and Archives, Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell University.
5780. ILGWU records
5780/023. ILGWU. Local 89. Luigi Antonini correspondence
5780/024. ILGWU. Local 89 records
5780/213. ILGWU. Local 89-22-1 records
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Local 89 (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
Women's clothing industry -- United States
Women's clothing industry--New York (State)--New York.
Clothing workers -- Labor unions -- 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.
CONTAINER LIST
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
Series I. Committee minutes, 1919-1971
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 1 |
Advisory Board. Main District and Branch Offices Minutes.
|
1934-1935 |
Scope and Contents
May 1934 - December 1935
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Appeal Committee.
|
1934-1941 |
Scope and Contents
June 1934 - December 1941
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 3 |
District Membership Meeting. Main Office.
|
1934-1935 |
Scope and Contents
August 1934 - June 1935
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 4 |
General Council Minutes
|
1937-1942 |
Scope and Contents
1. April 23, 1937 - March 25, 1942
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 5 |
General Council Minutes
|
1942-1959 |
Scope and Contents
2. May 29, 1942 - April 22, 1959
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 6 |
General Membership Meeting of Main and Branch Offices.
|
1927-1935 |
Box 1 | Folder 7 |
IDWU Summer Colony, Inc. Board of Directors Minutes.
|
1920-1923 |
Scope and Contents
October 14, 1920 - April 30, 1923
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 8 |
Main District Minutes
|
1936-1956 |
Scope and Contents
1. January 6, 1936 - October 18, 1956
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 9 |
Main District Minutes
|
1968-1971 |
Scope and Contents
2. 1968 - 1971
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 10 |
Meeting of Standing Committees.
|
1919-1923 |
Scope and Contents
December 1, 1919 - April 30, 1923
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 11 |
Membership Meeting Minutes.
|
1919-1923 |
Scope and Contents
November 26, 1919 - April 23, 1923
|
|||
Series II. Executive board minutes, 1919-1974
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 1 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1919-1923 |
Scope and Contents
December 1, 1919 - April 30, 1923
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 2 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1927-1932 |
Scope and Contents
May 1927 - April 1932
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 3 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1932-1935 |
Scope and Contents
May 1932 - December 1935
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 4 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1936-1937 |
Scope and Contents
January 3, 1936 - March 19, 1937
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 5 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1937-1938 |
Scope and Contents
April 22, 1937 - December 16, 1938
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 6 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1939-1940 |
Scope and Contents
January 1939 - December 1940
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 7 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1941-1943 |
Scope and Contents
January 3, 1941 - December 17, 1943
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 8 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1944-1944 |
Scope and Contents
January 7, 1944 - December 19, 1944
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 9 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1945-1946 |
Scope and Contents
January 12, 1945 - December 27, 1946
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 10 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1947-1948 |
Scope and Contents
January 17, 1947 - December 17, 1948
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 1 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1949-1950 |
Scope and Contents
January 14, 1949 - December 8, 1950
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 2 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1951-1952 |
Scope and Contents
January 5, 1951 - December 19, 1952
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 3 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1953-1954 |
Scope and Contents
February 1, 1953 - December 17, 1954
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 4 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1955-1956 |
Scope and Contents
January 14, 1955 - December 28, 1956
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 5 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1957-1959 |
Scope and Contents
February 8, 1957 - March 6, 1959
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 6 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1959-1962 |
Scope and Contents
March 21, 1959 - March 23, 1962
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 7 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1962-1965 |
Scope and Contents
March 31, 1962 - February 19, 1965
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 8 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1965-1968 |
Scope and Contents
March 10, 1965 - February 27, 1968
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 9 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1968-1971 |
Scope and Contents
March 8, 1968 - February 2, 1971
|
|||
Box 3 | Folder 10 |
Executive Board. Minutes.
|
1971-1974 |
Scope and Contents
February 23, 1971 - January 8, 1974
|
|||
Series III. Finance committee, 1923-1973
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 1 |
Executive Board Finance Committee Minutes.
|
1923-1924 |
Scope and Contents
May 1, 1923 - April 30, 1924
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 2 |
Finance Committee
|
1927-1937 |
Scope and Contents
1. March 16, 1927 - December 7, 1937
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 3 |
Finance Committee
|
1938-1942 |
Scope and Contents
2. January 1938 - April 1942
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 4 |
Finance Committee
|
1942-1952 |
Scope and Contents
3. May 25, 1942 - March 5, 1952
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 5 |
Finance Committee
|
1952-1961 |
Scope and Contents
4. May 19, 1952 - December 4, 1961
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 6 |
Finance Committee
|
1962-1972 |
Scope and Contents
5. January 8, 1962 - December 5, 1972
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 7 |
Finance Committee Minutes.
|
1973 |
Scope and Contents
January 2, 1973
|
|||
Series IV. Relief and Emergency Welfare Fund Committee, 1945-1968
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 8 |
Relief and Emergency Welfare Fund Committee Minutes
|
1945-1951 |
Scope and Contents
1. January 6, 1945 - December 20, 1951
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 9 |
Emergency Welfare Fund Committee Minutes
|
1952-1956 |
Scope and Contents
2. March 3, 1952 - December 5, 1956
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 10 |
Emergency Welfare Fund Committee Minutes
|
1957-1962 |
Scope and Contents
3. February 13, 1957 - February 5, 1962
|
|||
Box 4 | Folder 11 |
Emergency Welfare Fund Administrative Committee.
|
1962-1968 |
Scope and Contents
April 27, 1962 - February 1, 1968
|