ILGWU Legal Department Audio-Visual Materials
Collection Number: 5780/107 AV
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Title:
ILGWU Legal Department
Audio-Visual Materials, 1965-1980
Collection Number:
5780/107 AV
Creator:
Siems, Frederick Rolle;
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU)
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Container
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Description
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Date
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Box 2 | Item 6 | ||
2 copies
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Box 2 | Item 7 | ||
copy
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Box 2 | Item 9 | ||
part 1
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Box 2 | Item 10 | ||
part 2
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part 3
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Box 2 | Item 16 | ||
part 1
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part 2
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part 1
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Box 2 | Item 20 | ||
part 2
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Box 2 | Item 22 | ||
part 1
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Box 2 | Item 23 | ||
part 2
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part 1
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Box 2 | Item 25 | ||
part 2
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Box 2 | Item 28 | ||
Box 2 | Item 30 | ||
part 1
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part 2
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part 3
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part 4
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part 5
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part 6
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Box 2 | Item 36 | ||
part 1
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part 2
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part 1
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part 2
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part 3
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part 4
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part 5
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Box 2 | Item 43 | ||
August 3
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Box 2 | Item 44 | 1980 | |
Box 2 | Item 45 | ||
Box 2 | Item 46 | 1979 | |
September 30
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Box 2 | Item 47 | 1979 | |
August 30
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Box 2 | Item 48 | ||
Box 2 | Item 49 | ||
September 2; 8:00 a.m.
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Box 3 | Item 1 | ||
Master Copy. 2 Discs
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Box 3 | Item 2 | ||
Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Box 3 | Item 3 | ||
Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Box 3 | Item 4 | ||
Master Copy. 3 Discs
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Box 3 | Item 5 | ||
Master Copy. 2 Discs
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Box 3 | Item 6 | ||
Master Copy. 3 Discs
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Box 3 | Item 7 | ||
Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Box 3 | Item 8 | ||
Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Box 3 | Item 9 | ||
Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Box 3 | Item 10 | ||
Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Box 3 | Item 11 | ||
Master Copy. 2 Discs
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Box 3 | Item 12 | ||
Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Box 3 | Item 13 | ||
Master Copy. 2 Discs
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Box 3 | Item 14 | ||
Master Copy. 2 Discs
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Box 3 | Item 15 | ||
Master Copy. 2 Discs
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Box 3 | Item 16 | ||
Master Copy. 2 Discs
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Box 3 | Item 17 | ||
Master Copy. 2 Discs
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Box 3 | Item 18 | ||
Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Box 3 | Item 19 | ||
Master Copy. 6 Discs
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Box 3 | Item 20 | ||
Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Box 3 | Item 21 | ||
Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Box 3 | Item 22 | ||
Master Copy. 6 Discs
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Box 3 | Item 23 | ||
Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Box 3 | Item 24 | ||
Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Box 3 | Item 25 | ||
Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Box 3 | Item 28 | ||
Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Box 3 | Item 29 | ||
Master Copy. 1 Disc
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Box 4 | Item 1 | ||
2 Discs
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1 Disc
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1 Disc
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3 Discs
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2 Discs
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3 Discs
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Box 4 | Item 7 | ||
1 Disc
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1 Disc
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1 Disc
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1 Disc
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Box 4 | Item 11 | ||
2 Discs
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1 Disc
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2 Discs
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2 Discs
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2 Discs
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2 Discs
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2 Discs
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Box 4 | Item 18 | ||
1 Disc
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Box 4 | Item 19 | ||
6 Discs
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Box 4 | Item 20 | ||
1 Disc
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1 Disc
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6 Discs
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1 Disc
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1 Disc
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1 Disc
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1 Disc
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1 Disc
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1 Disc
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Box 5 | Item 1 | 1966 | |
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August 2
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August 12
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Box 5 | Item 4 | 1966 | |
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November 4
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Box 5 | Item 6 | ||
Box 5 | Item 7 | 1965 | |
Box 5 | Item 8 | 1965 | |
Box 5 | Item 9 | ||
August 12
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Box 5 | Item 10 | ||
August 15; News Clipping Included
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Box 5 | Item 11 | ||
August 17
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Box 5 | Item 12 | ||
August 28
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Box 5 | Item 13 | ||
August 4
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Box 5 | Item 14 | 1973 | |
August 21
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Box 5 | Item 15 | ||
August 18
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Box 5 | Item 16 | 1977 | |
January 15
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Box 5 | Item 17 | 1974 | |
August 21
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Box 5 | Item 18 | ||
July 2
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Box 5 | Item 19 | 1967 | |
September 10
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Box 5 | Item 20 | ||
September 2
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August 23
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Box 5 | Item 22 | ||
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August 3
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Box 5 | Item 24 | ||
Box 6 |