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

Biographical / Historical

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.

Biographical / Historical

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.
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. Muzaffar Chishti papers. 5780/210. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Martin P. Catherwood Library, Cornell University.

Related Materials

5780. ILGWU records

SUBJECTS

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