ILGWU Local 25 Publication "L'Operaia" on Microfilm, 1913-1919
Collection Number: 5780/139 mf
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives
Cornell University Library
Title:
ILGWU Local 25 Publication "L'Operaia" on Microfilm, 1913-1919
Collection Number:
5780/139 mf
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Local 23-25 (New York, N.Y.)
Quantity:
4 microfilm reels
Forms of Material:
Microfilm.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
Collection contains issues of L'Operaia, the newsletter of Local 25 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
Language:
Collection material in Italian
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 25 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), also known as the Ladies' Waist and Dressmakers Union,
was chartered in 1905 and based in New York, New York.
Collection contains issues of L'Operaia, the newsletter of Local 25 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers Union --Periodicals.
International Ladies' Garment Workers Union. Local 23-25 (New York, N.Y.)--Periodicals.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Local 23-25 (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
Clothing workers--Labor unions--New York (State)--New York--Periodicals.
Clothing workers--New York (State)--New York--Periodicals.
Form and Genre Terms:
Publications.
Microfilm.
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.
Cite As:
ILGWU Local 25 Publication "L'Operaia" on Microfilm, 5780/139 mf. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives,
Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell University.
5780. ILGWU Records
5780/042. ILGWU. Local 25. L'Operaia.
5780/071. ILGWU. Local 25. The Message
Description based on: Vol. 2, no. 1 (30 ag. 1913); title from caption.
"Permanent deposit"
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Container
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Description
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Date
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| Reel 1 |
L'Operaia. Vol.2:no.1-Vol.4:no.21.
|
1913-1915 | |
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Italian. August 30, 1913-May 22, 1915. Positive.
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|||
| Reel 2 |
L'Operaia. Vol.5:no.1-Vol.5:no.53.
|
1916 | |
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Italian. January 1, 1916-December 30, 1916. Positive.
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| Reel 3 |
L'Operaia. Vol.6:no.1-Vol.6:no.27; Vol.5:no.28-Vol.5:no.52.
|
1917 | |
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Italian. January 6, 1917-December 29, 1917. Beginning with issue number 28, in 1917, enumeration reverted from Volume 6 to
Volume 5. Positive.
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| Reel 4 |
L'Operaia. Vol.6:no.1-Vol.7:no.2.
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1918-1919 | |
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Italian. January 5, 1918-January 11, 1919. Positive.
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