ILGWU. Constitutions and Dues Books,1893-1992
Collection Number: 5780/072
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives
Cornell University Library
Title:
ILGWU. Constitutions and dues books, 1893-1992.
Collection Number:
5780/072
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
Quantity:
1 linear foot
Forms of Material:
Constitutions
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
Contains constitutions, dues books, membership and strike cards of the ILGWU and some of its predecessor unions.
Language:
Collection material in English, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, and Yiddish
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.
Contains constitutions, dues books, membership and strike cards of the ILGWU and some of its predecessor unions.
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union --Constitutions
Subjects:
Labor unions--Clothing workers--United States--History.
Labor unions--Clothing workers--New York (State)--New York--History.
Wages--Clothing workers--United States--History.
Wages--Clothing workers--New York (State)--New York--History.
Form and Genre Terms:
Records.
Access Restrictions:
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.
Restrictions on Use:
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and Procedures for Document Use.
Cite As:
ILGWU. Constitutions and dues books. 5780/072. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Martin P. Catherwood
Library, Cornell University.
5780. ILGWU Records
5780/080. ILGWU. Convention records
5780/080mf. ILGWU. Convention records. Microfilm
5780/193 PUBS. ILGWU. Convention publications
"Permanent deposit"
|
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
| Box 1 | Folder 1 |
Constitution of the Joint Board of the Cloak, Suit, Skirt and Reefer Makers' Union of NY and Vicinity
|
1926 |
| Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Membership Cards
|
1893-1935 |
| Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Strike Cards
|
1930-1935 |
| Box 1 | Folder 4 |
Complaints and Control Cards, Local 25
|
1933-1973 |
| Box 1 | Folder 5 |
Constitution of the ILGWU [Folder 1 of 3]
|
1970-1990 |
| Box 1 | Folder 6 |
Constitution of the ILGWU [Folder 2 of 3]
|
1970-1990 |
| Box 1 | Folder 7 |
Constitution of the ILGWU [Folder 3 of 3]
|
1970-1990 |
| Box 1 | Folder 8 |
Constitution of the ILGWU
|
1960-1969 |
| Box 1 | Folder 9 |
Constitution of the ILGWU
|
1950-1959 |
| Box 1 | Folder 10 |
Constitution and By-Laws of the ILGWU
|
1940-1949 |
| Box 1 | Folder 11 |
Constitution and By-Laws of the ILGWU
|
1930-1939 |
| Box 1 | Folder 12 |
Constitution and By-Laws of ILGWU
|
1920-1929 |
| Box 1 | Folder 13 |
Constitution and By-Laws of the ILGWU
|
1890-1910 |
| Box 1 | Folder 14 |
Miscellaneous Constitutions
|
1900-1970 |
|
Yiddish
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 15 |
Miscellaneous Constitutions
|
1900-1970 |
|
Italian
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 16 |
Constitution and By-Laws
|
1977 |
|
Spanish
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 17 |
Local 23-25 Wage and Hour Record Books
|
|
|
English, Spanish and Chinese
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 18 |
Due and Receipt Books
|
1901-1916 |