ILGWU Management Engineering Department Records

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.

Created in 1941, the Management Engineering Department was charged with assisting in the improvement of manufacturing techniques and operating methods, as well as providing information on "fair rate pieces," monitoring manufacturing techniques, and providing trainings to workers on efficient operations. Improvements to techniques and methods were made by first observing the ways that operations in the manufacturing of women's garments were executed, and then making recommendations to create efficiencies. The Management-Engineering Department collected information, produced these time and motion studies, and used both to help determine piece rates and develop worker training.

William Gomberg, who had previous worked as a collective bargaining agent with the ILGWU, served as the department's first director 1956. Gomberg eventually became a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, thus his papers are housed at the University of Pennsylvania's University Archives and Records Center: http://www.archives.upenn.edu/faids/upt/upt50/gombergwm.html

The records of the Management Engineering Department range from its founding in 1941 to 1980. Included are reports on operations at in specific shops and industries, reports to the General Executive Board about the department's activities, and related materials.

The department's records are not extensive, and do not provide particularly strong documentation of the Management Engineering Department's work. Researchers interested in more information about the Management Engineering Department and its activities may consult reports to the ILGWU international conventions.

Related Collections:
5780: ILGWU records