ILGWU. Muzaffar Chishti papers, 1991-1995
Collection Number: 5780/210
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
ILGWU. Muzaffar Chishti papers, 1991-1995
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5780/210
Abstract:
This collection consists of Muzaffar Chishti's Industrial Development and Labor-Management
files, 1991-1995. Most records pertain to Chishti's work with the Council on American
Fashion.
Creator:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union;
Chishti, Muzaffar.
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.
Muzaffar Chishti was Director of the ILGWU's Immigration Project. After the ILGWU's
merger with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, Chishti served as
Director of Immigration Project of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile
Employees (UNITE). Currently, Chishti is the Director of the Migration Policy Institute
Office at the New York University School of Law.
This collection consists of Muzaffar Chishti's Industrial Development and Labor-Management
files, 1991-1995. Most records pertain to Chishti's work with the Council on American
Fashion.
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.
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and
Procedures for Document Use.
INFORMATION FOR USERS
ILGWU. Muzaffar Chishti papers. 5780/210. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation
and Archives, Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell University.
5780. ILGWU records
Names:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
Chishti, Muzaffar
Chishti, Muzaffar
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union --Archives
Subjects:
Textile workers--Labor unions--New York (State)
Clothing workers--Labor unions--New York (State)
CONTAINER LIST
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
Box 1 | Folder 1 |
ID/LM [Industrial Development/Labor Management], ACTWU
|
1992-1995 |
Box 1 | Folder 2 |
ID/LM, Agile Manufacturing Network Project
|
1995 |
Box 1 | Folder 3 |
ID/LM, Amtex
|
1995 |
Box 1 | Folder 4 |
ID/LM, Council for American Fashion (CAF) Annual reports
|
1991 |
Box 1 | Folder 5 |
ID/LM, CAF, Boston
|
1994 |
Box 1 | Folder 6 |
ID/LM, CAF, California Industry
|
1994 |
Box 1 | Folder 7 |
ID/LM, CAF, fact sheets
|
|
Scope and Contents
no date
|
|||
Box 1 | Folder 8 |
ID/LM, CAF, Philadelphia
|
1992-1995 |
Box 1 | Folder 9 |
ID/LM, CAF, Steering Committee meeting
|
1992 |
Box 1 | Folder 10 |
ID/LM, CF, Amalgamated Bank
|
1993 |
Box 1 | Folder 11 |
ID/LM, CF, Articles of Association
|
1992-1993 |
Box 1 | Folder 12 |
ID/LM, CF, Audit
|
1992-1994 |
Box 1 | Folder 13 |
ID/LM, CF, bank statements
|
1994-1995 |
Box 1 | Folder 14 |
ID/LM, CF, board meetings
|
1992-1994 |
Box 1 | Folder 15 |
ID/LM, CF, board resolutions
|
1991-1994 |
Box 1 | Folder 16 |
ID/LM, CF, by-laws
|
1991-1992 |
Box 1 | Folder 17 |
ID/LM, CF, contract language
|
1993 |
Box 1 | Folder 18 |
ID/LM, CF, Ergonomics
|
1991-1994 |
Box 1 | Folder 19 |
ID/LM, CF, fact sheets
|
1993 |
Box 1 | Folder 20 |
ID/LM, CF, GIDC funding
|
1991-1994 |
Box 1 | Folder 21 |
ID/LM, CF, income/expense summary
|
1992-1994 |
Box 1 | Folder 22 |
ID/LM, CF, insurance
|
1993 |
Box 1 | Folder 23 |
ID/LM, CF, IRS
|
1991-1992 |
Box 1 | Folder 24 |
ID/LM, CF, Irwin Khan
|
1992-1993 |
Box 2 | Folder 1 |
ID/LM, CF, Legal Department
|
1992 |
Box 2 | Folder 2 |
ID/LM, CF, Local 10
|
1992 |
Box 2 | Folder 3 |
ID/LM, CF, Mademoiselle
|
1992 |
Box 2 | Folder 4 |
ID/LM, Maidenform
|
1992 |
Box 2 | Folder 5 |
ID/LM, CF, NYS Charities Registration
|
1992-1993 |
Box 2 | Folder 6 |
ID/LM, CF, New Jersey
|
1992 |
Box 2 | Folder 7 |
ID/LM, CF, payments
|
1991-1993 |
Box 2 | Folder 8 |
ID/LM, CF, Philadelphia
|
1992-1993 |
Box 2 | Folder 9 |
ID/LM, CF, revenue activity
|
1991-1992 |
Box 2 | Folder 10 |
ID/LM, CF, Robby Len
|
1992 |
Box 2 | Folder 11 |
ID/LM, CF, setting up
|
1991 |
Box 2 | Folder 12 |
ID/LM, CF, setting up
|
1991 |
Box 2 | Folder 13 |
ID/LM, CF, tax return
|
1992-1993 |
Box 2 | Folder 14 |
ID/LM, CF, vouchers
|
|
Scope and Contents
no date
|
|||
Box 2 | Folder 15 |
ID/LM, Canada
|
1992 |
Box 2 | Folder 16 |
ID/LM, City University of New York
|
1992 |
Box 2 | Folder 17 |
ID/LM,Clinton-Gore Policy
|
1992 |
Box 2 | Folder 18 |
ID/LM, Consortium for Worker Education
|
1992 |
Box 2 | Folder 19 |
ID/LM, core group meetings
|
1993-1995 |
Box 2 | Folder 20 |
ID/LM, Council on Competitiveness
|
1994 |
Box 2 | Folder 21 |
ID/LM, Department of Labor, master agreement
|
1994 |
Box 2 | Folder 22 |
ID/LM, Dunlop Commission
|
1992-1994 |
Box 2 | Folder 23 |
ID/LM, Dunlop Commission
|
1992-1994 |
Box 2 | Folder 24 |
ID/LM, Department of Commerce
|
1993 |