ILGWU Operations Department Collective Bargaining Agreements, 1988-1998
Collection Number: 5780/202

Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
ILGWU Operations Department Collective Bargaining Agreements, 1988-1998
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/202
Abstract:
This collection includes records from both the Research Department and the Operations Department. Arranged alphabetically by company, these records consist of collective bargaining agreements negotiated by local unions of the ILGWU and various companies.
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Quanitities:
1 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English

Biographical / Historical

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.

Biographical / Historical

Little documentation exists in the ILGWU records about the work of the Operations Department in the union's international offices, and the materials that comprise the Operations Department records do not explicitly show that they were created by the department per se. While typically an operations department is known to deal with the everyday business of an organization and to have responsibility for the organization's facilities, the records suggest that the department either complemented the work of the Research Department, the Master Agreements Department, and the former Management Engineering Department, or maintained records useful to those departments.

The Operations Department records consist of materials relating to the ILGWU's efforts to maintain a ban on industrial homework, manuals for operations standards in the manufacturing of women's blouses and women's skirts, and collective bargaining agreements. The records relating to homework and operations standards date from the 1980s, and the collective bargaining agreements are from the years just before the ILGWU merged with ACTWU in 1995.
Researchers interested in ILGWU statements on homework and related issues should consult the Research Department records, 5780/209. Likewise, researchers looking for additional collective bargaining agreements should consult collections in Series VI, Contracts and Case Files (5780/075, 5780/075 mf, 5780/145, 5780/146, 5780/147, 5780/158, 5780/191). These records, and others throughout the ILGWU records, complement the records of the Operations Department.
This collection includes the collective bargaining agreements negotiated by local unions of the ILGWU and various companies.
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference archivist for access to these materials.
Conditions Governing Use

This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and Procedures for Document Use.

INFORMATION FOR USERS

Preferred Citation

ILGWU Operations Department Collective Bargaining Agreements #5780/202. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

Related Materials

Related Collections: 5780: ILGWU records 5780/196: ILGWU Operations Department Industrial Homework Records 5780/202 PUBS: ILGWU Operations Department Publications Operations Standards Manuals

SUBJECTS

Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
Accurate Lace Dye Experts, Inc.
Ajax Shoulder Pad Company, Inc.
Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union
American White Cross, Inc.
Bari Manufacturing Corporation
Biener and Son, Inc.
Brooks Brothers (Firm)
Buster Brown Apparel, Inc.
California Ranchwear
Chase Packaging Corporation
Cleve-Tenn Industries, Inc.
Cliftex Corporation/Cutting Room
College House Manufacturing
Columbia Wool Scouring Mills
Cone Mills Corporation
Cooper Sportswear Manufacturing Company, Inc.
Country Miss, Inc.
Crown Yarn Dye Company, Inc.
Hallmark Emblems, Inc.
Harris-Tipograph, Inc.
Ideal Shoulder Pad Company
Imperial Coat Front Company, Inc.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Operations Department.
Interstate Dyeing and Finishing Company
Kellwood Company
Lee County Manufacturing
Lehigh Valley Throwing Mills, Inc.
Levi Strauss and Company
Lilly Industrial Coatings
Meren Industries, Inc.
Mespo Umbrella Ltd.
Midlantic/New York Pad
Miller Brothers, Inc.
Missbrenner Prints, Inc.
Moderne Gloves, Inc.
Monroe Prints, Inc.
Montreal Fast Print, Ltd.
National Knitted Processors, Inc.
Oneita Industries, Inc.
Peerless Rug Ltd.
Perennial Print Corporation
Perfection Pad Company, Inc.
Poughkeepsie Finishing Corporation
Rainbow Dyeing and Finishing Company
River Warping, Inc.
Schertz Umbrellas, Inc.
Sierra Plastics, Inc.
Societe de la Broderie
Tavernon Photo Engraving Company
Techniplast, Inc.
Texas Apparel
Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees
UNITE HERE (Organization)
United Global Distributors, Inc.
Warwick Dying Corporation
Wimpfheimer A. and Brothers, Inc.
Windsor Textile Processing, Inc.
American White Cross, Inc.
Subjects:
Collective bargaining--Clothing industry--New York (State)--New York
Collective bargaining--Textile industry--New York (State)--New York
Textile workers--Labor unions--New York (State)--New York
Clothing workers--Labor unions--New York (State)--New York

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Box 1 Folder 1
All Fashions Corporation. Local 148
1991-1994
Scope and Contents
Union City, New Jersey
Box 1 Folder 2
Allied Underwear Association, Local 63-32
1990-1996
Scope and Contents
NY, NY
Box 1 Folder 3
Ambow Corp, Local 162
1994-1997
Scope and Contents
Hoboken, NJ
Box 1 Folder 4
Angela Sports Limited, Local 33
1994-1997
Scope and Contents
Boston, MA
Box 1 Folder 5
Arlene Sports Company, Boston Joint Board
1994-1997
Scope and Contents
Boston, MA
Box 1 Folder 6
Aquilla Fashions Local 225
1991-1994
Scope and Contents
Lansford, PA
Box 1 Folder 7
Betsy Flags Local 90
1992-1994
Scope and Contents
Lake Bluff, IL
Box 1 Folder 8
Broderie Ritz Ltee Local 315
1993-1998
Scope and Contents
Montreal, QU
Box 1 Folder 9
Canadian African Newcomer Aid Center Local 136
1994-1996
Scope and Contents
Toronto, ON
Box 1 Folder 10
Cherrybill Manufacturing Local 277
1991-1994
Scope and Contents
Tucson, AZ
Box 1 Folder 11
Copan's Enterprises Local 415
1994-1997
Scope and Contents
Pompano Beach, FL
Box 1 Folder 12
Country Miss
1988-1994
Box 1 Folder 13
Howard Korenstein Sportswear Local 166
1994-1997
Scope and Contents
Newark, NJ
Box 1 Folder 14
JH Collectibles Local 188
1994-1997
Scope and Contents
Milwaukee, WI
Box 1 Folder 15
J.K. Operating Company Local 185
1995-1966
Scope and Contents
Kulpmont, PA
Box 1 Folder 16
Jayo Sportswear Company Local 234
1993-1996
Scope and Contents
Bethlehem, PA
Box 2 Folder 1
Koret of California Local 215
1993-1995
Scope and Contents
Napa, CA
Box 2 Folder 2
Koret of California Local 294
1989-1992
Scope and Contents
Price, UT
Box 2 Folder 3
La Compagnie de Broderie Lippm, Quebec Joint Council
1993-1996
Box 2 Folder 4
Liz Claiborne Shoes Local 130
1994-1997
Scope and Contents
Dayton, NJ
Box 2 Folder 5
Lingerie Love'Lee Made Local 352
1995-1996
Scope and Contents
Montreal, QU
Box 2 Folder 6
Maiden Mills Industries Local 281
1994-1996
Scope and Contents
Lawrence, MA
Box 2 Folder 7
Manhattan Children's Wear, Quebec Joint Council
1993-1998
Scope and Contents
Montreal, QU
Box 2 Folder 8
Pennsylvania Textile Corporation Local 225
1993-1996
Scope and Contents
W. Hazleton
Box 2 Folder 9
Quality Garment Company Local 256
1994-1997
Scope and Contents
West Union, WV
Box 2 Folder 10
Salon de Coiffure Forrest Local 208
1993-1995
Scope and Contents
Montreal, QU
Box 2 Folder 11
Societe de la Broderie Canadienne Local 315
1993-1996
Scope and Contents
Montreal, QU
Box 2 Folder 12
Seneca Knitting Mills Local 89-22-1
1995-1998
Scope and Contents
Seneca Falls, NY
Box 2 Folder 13
Service America Corporation
1994-1997
Scope and Contents
Evansville, IN
Box 2 Folder 14
Iranian Community Association of Ontario Local 136
1995-1996
Scope and Contents
Downs view, ON
Box 2 Folder 15
United Knitwear Manufacturers' League Local 99
1991-1994
Scope and Contents
New York, NY
Box 2 Folder 16
Urkov Manufacturing Local 76
1992-1995
Scope and Contents
Chicago, IL