ILGWU Legal Department Audio-Visual Materials

Collection Number: 5780/107 AV

Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
ILGWU Legal Department Audio-Visual Materials, 1965-1980
Collection Number:
5780/107 AV
Creator:
Siems, Frederick Rolle;
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU)
Quantity:
1.5 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Audiovisual materials.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
The collection contains audio recordings of interviews with ILGWU members relating to working at, and, later, striking against the Kellwood Company, as well as notes relating to these interviews.
Language:
Collection material in English

ILGWU ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY

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.
ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY

From very early on in its existence, the ILGWU had need for legal counsel, and this was handled in the union's main offices in cooperation with hired attorneys. As the union grew and especially after the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947, the union found cause to establish a Legal Department. The department provided general legal counsel to the union and its affiliates, worked to develop collective bargaining agreement terms, and represented the ILGWU in litigation and arbitration. After the formation of the Master Agreements Department in 1965, the responsibilities for developing CBA terms shifted to the new department.
COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The Legal Department records do not comprehensively document the ILGWU legal activities, instead focusing on specific cases or series of cases.
Two ILGWU cases are documented in the Legal Department records. The first case involved the Kellwood Corporation, and the second involved the Donnelly Garment Company. The records relating to the Kellwood case (5780/107, 5780/107 AV, 5780/107 P) include court documents, correspondence and memoranda, surveys of strikers, organizing leaflets and newsletters (from both the union and the company), Steve Honeyman's draft accounts of the strike, audio and transcripts of Honeyman's interviews with ILGWU members and staff, newspaper clippings, photographs, and other printed material. The Donnelly Garment Company's case against the ILGWU is documented primarily through transcripts of the case, legal briefs, and related court documents.
Records on series of cases are the most general and extensive of the Legal Department records. They include records on ILGWU cases in the U.S. courts (5780/081), records documenting cases before the National War Labor Board (5780/085), and records relating to a wide variety contract negotiations, arbitration proceedings, and courts cases (5780/063).
Researchers may find complementary material in the other parts of the ILGWU records, such as the papers of the international leadership, especially the papers of ILGWU presidents (Series IV); the records of local unions in instances where these affiliates were involved in litigation or arbitration (Series III); and the collective bargaining agreements (Series VI). Related collections at the Kheel Center include decisions of the Coat and Suit Industry's Impartial Chairman (6036/015) and decisions of the Dress Industry's Impartial Chairman (6036/017).
For the AV collection, included are audio recordings of interviews with ILGWU members relating to working at, and, later, striking against the Kellwood Company, as well as notes relating to these interviews. Also included are several tapes on sweatshops, some of which feature Frederick Siems.
SUBJECTS

Names:
Siems, Frederick Rolle, 1915-
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Legal Dept.

Subjects:
Women's clothing industry--United States.
Clothing workers--Labor unions--United States.
Clothing workers--United States.
Industrial relations--United States.

Form and Genre Terms:
Audiovisual materials.

INFORMATION FOR USERS

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 Legal Department Audio-Visual Materials #5780/107 AV. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
RELATED MATERIALS

Related Collections:
5780: ILGWU records
5780/107: ILGWU Legal Department Records
5780/107 P: ILGWU Legal Department Photographs
5780/081: ILGWU Legal Department Records
5780/063: ILGWU Legal Department Records
5780/162: ILGWU Legal Department Donnelly Garment Company v. ILGWU Records
CONTAINER LIST

Container
Description
Date
Box 1 Item 1
Box 1 Item 2
Box 1 Item 3
Box 1 Item 4
Box 1 Item 5
Box 1 Item 6
Box 1 Item 7
Box 1 Item 8
Box 1 Item 9
Box 2 Item 1
Box 2 Item 2
Box 2 Item 3
Box 2 Item 4
Box 2 Item 6
2 copies
Box 2 Item 7
copy
Box 2 Item 8
Box 2 Item 9
part 1
Box 2 Item 10
part 2
Box 2 Item 11
part 3
Box 2 Item 12
Box 2 Item 13
Box 2 Item 14
Box 2 Item 15
Box 2 Item 16
part 1
Box 2 Item 17
part 2
Box 2 Item 18
Box 2 Item 19
part 1
Box 2 Item 20
Box 2 Item 20
part 2
Box 2 Item 21
Box 2 Item 22
part 1
Box 2 Item 23
part 2
Box 2 Item 24
part 1
Box 2 Item 25
part 2
Box 2 Item 26
Box 2 Item 28
Box 2 Item 30
part 1
Box 2 Item 31
part 2
Box 2 Item 32
part 3
Box 2 Item 33
part 4
Box 2 Item 34
part 5
Box 2 Item 35
part 6
Box 2 Item 36
part 1
Box 2 Item 37
part 2
Box 2 Item 38
part 1
Box 2 Item 39
part 2
Box 2 Item 40
part 3
Box 2 Item 41
part 4
Box 2 Item 42
part 5
Box 2 Item 43
August 3
Box 2 Item 44 1980
Box 2 Item 45
Box 2 Item 46 1979
September 30
Box 2 Item 47 1979
August 30
Box 2 Item 48
Box 2 Item 49
September 2; 8:00 a.m.
Box 3 Item 1
Master Copy. 2 Discs
Box 3 Item 2
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 3
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 4
Master Copy. 3 Discs
Box 3 Item 5
Master Copy. 2 Discs
Box 3 Item 6
Master Copy. 3 Discs
Box 3 Item 7
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 8
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 9
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 10
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 11
Master Copy. 2 Discs
Box 3 Item 12
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 13
Master Copy. 2 Discs
Box 3 Item 14
Master Copy. 2 Discs
Box 3 Item 15
Master Copy. 2 Discs
Box 3 Item 16
Master Copy. 2 Discs
Box 3 Item 17
Master Copy. 2 Discs
Box 3 Item 18
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 19
Master Copy. 6 Discs
Box 3 Item 20
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 21
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 22
Master Copy. 6 Discs
Box 3 Item 23
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 24
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 25
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 26
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 27
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 28
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 3 Item 29
Master Copy. 1 Disc
Box 4 Item 1
2 Discs
Box 4 Item 2
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 3
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 4
3 Discs
Box 4 Item 5
2 Discs
Box 4 Item 6
3 Discs
Box 4 Item 7
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 8
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 9
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 10
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 11
2 Discs
Box 4 Item 12
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 13
2 Discs
Box 4 Item 14
2 Discs
Box 4 Item 15
2 Discs
Box 4 Item 16
2 Discs
Box 4 Item 17
2 Discs
Box 4 Item 18
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 19
6 Discs
Box 4 Item 20
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 21
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 22
6 Discs
Box 4 Item 23
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 24
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 25
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 26
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 27
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 28
1 Disc
Box 4 Item 29
1 Disc
Box 5 Item 1 1966
Box 5 Item 2
August 2
Box 5 Item 3
August 12
Box 5 Item 4 1966
Box 5 Item 5
November 4
Box 5 Item 6
Box 5 Item 7 1965
Box 5 Item 8 1965
Box 5 Item 9
August 12
Box 5 Item 10
August 15; News Clipping Included
Box 5 Item 11
August 17
Box 5 Item 12
August 28
Box 5 Item 13
August 4
Box 5 Item 14 1973
August 21
Box 5 Item 15
August 18
Box 5 Item 16 1977
January 15
Box 5 Item 17 1974
August 21
Box 5 Item 18
July 2
Box 5 Item 19 1967
September 10
Box 5 Item 20
September 2
Box 5 Item 21
August 23
Box 5 Item 22
Box 5 Item 23
August 3
Box 5 Item 24
Box 6