ILGWU. Local 226 records,, 1946-1973.
Collection Number: 5780/132
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
ILGWU. Local 226 records, 1946-1973.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/132
Abstract:
Contains records of Local 226, including agreements with area companies, as well as
correspondence with those companies and union members. Also included are periodicals
from several district councils in New England and Pennsylvania: Southern New England
District News, Seamlines (Upstate New York and Vermont District), Garment Square Chronicle
(Southern New England District), Needle News (Allentown-Reading District), and Needlepoint
(Wilkes-Barre-Pittston-Nanticoke District).
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Local 226
Quanitities:
1 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
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 226 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) was based in
Springfield, Massachusetts.
Contains records of Local 226, including agreements with area companies, as well as
correspondence with those companies and union members. Also included are periodicals
from several district councils in New England and Pennsylvania: Southern New England
District News, Seamlines (Upstate New York and Vermont District), Garment Square Chronicle
(Southern New England District), Needle News (Allentown-Reading District), and Needlepoint
(Wilkes-Barre-Pittston-Nanticoke District).
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 226 records. 5780/132. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation
and Archives, Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell University.
5780. ILGWU records
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Local 226
Subjects:
Women's clothing industry--United States.
Labor unions--Clothing workers--United States.
Clothing workers--United States.
Industrial relations--United States.
CONTAINER LIST
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 1 |
Southern New England District News
|
1959 |
Scope and Contents
October
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Aaron Dress Company
|
1943-1960 |
Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Barton Tailoring Company
|
1941-1948 |
Box 1 | Folder 4 |
Sam J. Belsky, Incorporated
|
1961-1970 |
Box 1 | Folder 5 |
Burnette Corporation
|
1945-1950 |
Box 1 | Folder 6 |
Campus Girl, Incorporated
|
1959-1961 |
Box 1 | Folder 7 |
Cromwell Manufacturing Company
|
1969 |
Box 1 | Folder 8 |
Cromwell Mills, Incorporated
|
1966-1973 |
Box 1 | Folder 9 |
Desley Fabrics Company
|
1958-1969 |
Box 1 | Folder 10 |
Flair Fashions
|
1967-1968 |
Box 1 | Folder 11 |
M. Freed and Sons, Incorporated
|
1944-1951 |
Box 1 | Folder 12 |
Glernap
|
1953 |
Box 1 | Folder 13 |
Huntington Fashions
|
1964-1965 |
Box 1 | Folder 14 |
Julson Manufacturing Company, Incorporated
|
1958-1966 |
Box 1 | Folder 15 |
Junior Miss Lingerie
|
1951-1956 |
Box 1 | Folder 16 |
Ken Whitemore, Incorporated
|
1958-1970 |
Box 1 | Folder 17 |
Kestral Corporation
|
1951-1965 |
Box 1 | Folder 18 |
M. G. Kinser Company
|
1938-1951 |
Box 1 | Folder 19 |
Knit Goods Specialty Company
|
1958-1961 |
Box 1 | Folder 20 |
Madelle Corporation, Incorporated
|
1966 |
Box 1 | Folder 21 |
Malone Knitting Company
|
1958-1964 |
Box 1 | Folder 22 |
National Transparent Plastics Company
|
1953 |
Box 1 | Folder 23 |
New England Manufacturing Company
|
1960-1966 |
Box 1 | Folder 24 |
Orange Garment Manufacturing Company, Incorporated
|
1960-1965 |
Box 1 | Folder 25 |
Pioneer Valley Plastics Company
|
1956 |
Box 1 | Folder 26 |
Powdrell and Alexander
|
1947-1951 |
Box 1 | Folder 27 |
Rainbow Girl Coat
|
1951 |
Box 1 | Folder 28 |
I. L. Strick Company
|
1941-1950 |
Box 1 | Folder 29 |
S. G. Winer Company
|
1965-1967 |
Box 1 | Folder 30 |
Trencher, Incorporated
|
1961-1964 |
Box 1 | Folder 31 |
Victory Dress Company
|
1958-1967 |
Box 1 | Folder 32 |
Whitley Tailleurs
|
1961-1964 |
Box 1 | Folder 33 |
The William Carter Company
|
1965-1967 |
Box 1 | Folder 34 |
Young and Trim Coat Company
|
1961 |
Box 1 | Folder 35 |
Seamlines
|
1959-1961 |
Scope and Contents
June 1959 - November 1961
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 36 |
Education
|
1961 |
Box 1 | Folder 37 |
Garment Square Chronicle
|
1959-1961 |
Scope and Contents
December 1959 - June 1961
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 38 |
Needle News
|
1960-1961 |
Scope and Contents
September 1960 - December 1961
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 39 |
Needlepoint
|
1959-1961 |
Scope and Contents
February 1959 - August 1961
|