International Fur and Leather Workers Union Additional Records
Collection Number: 5924
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Title:
International Fur and Leather
Workers Union Additional Records, 1913-1972
Collection Number:
5924
Creator:
International Fur and Leather
Workers Union
Quantity:
1 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Records (documents).
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and
Archives, Cornell University Library
Language:
Collection material in English
The International Fur Workers Union was founded on June 16, 1913, by the delegates of
eight American Federation of Labor unions representing 14,000 workers in all
branches of the fur trade.
During the 1920's the union was characterized by internal corruption, factional
fighting, and heavy-handed leadership. Oranized crime gained a foothold in the New
York fur district. Led by Ben Gold, chairman of the New York Joint Board, the
radical element began a determined campaign to drive the gangsters out. This effort
culminated in a strike which began on February 11, 1926.
The four month strike was largely successful. Nevertheless, the leadership of the
International Fur Workers Union sought to expel Ben Gold. A January 27, 1927
decision by the American Federation of Labor's Executive Council authorized
President William Green to appoint a special committee "to rid the [New York City
Joint Board] of its Communist leadership."
During the next seven years Ben Gold and his followers waged a determined battle to
regain their positions within the union. Finally, in May of 1935, with the union's
right wing discredited by its connection with organized crime, Gold was named
president. Three years later he once again led the fur workers out on strike. This
time, the manufacturers were forced to sign an industry-wide collective agreement.
In 1937, the International Fur Workers Union left the American Federation of Labor
and joined the C.I.O., lending support to the campaign for industrial unionism. In
1940, the International Fur Workers Union merged with the National Leather Workers'
Association to form the Fur and Leather Workers Union; the new union began a
campaign to organize the tanneries of Pennsylvania and the midwest.
During World War II, the union implemented the Fur Vest Project, producing 50,000
vests for America's merchant seamen. A no-strike pledge guaranteed labor-management
peace.
In 1948, while most labor unions were supporting President Harry Truman and his cold
war policies, the Fur and Leather Workers endorsed Henry Wallace's Progressive
Party. Wallace, who had been Vice President in Roosevelt's third term, ran for
President on a platform that stressed the need for peace, full employment and a
continuation of the New Deal tradition. The Wallace campaign widened the breach
within the C.I.O. and isolated the Fur and Leather Workers on the left.
McCarthyism and anti-Communist hysteria threw the labor movement on the defensive
during the late 1940's and early 1950's. In 1950, the Fur and Leather Workers were
expelled from the C.I.O. Ben Gold was forced to resign as President after he was
accused of perjuring himself by signing a non-Communist Taft-Hartley affadavit.
In 1955, the union merged with the Amalgamated Butchers and Meat Cutters of North
America. As part of this organization, the Joint Board Fur, Leather and Machine
Workers' Union has continued in the progressive tradition. In the 1960's and 1970's
it played active roles in both the civil rights and peace movements.
Names:
International Fur and Leather Workers Union of
the United States and Canada
Subjects:
Fur workers--Labor unions.
Leather workers--Labor unions.
Form and Genre Terms:
Records (documents)
Access Restrictions:
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a
reference archivist for access to these materials.
Restrictions on Use:
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet
and Procedures for Document Use.
Cite As:
International Fur and Leather Workers Union Additional Records #5924. Kheel
Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University
Library.
|
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
| Box 1 | Folder 1a | 1939 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 1b | 1939 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 1c | 1939 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 2 | 1939-1943 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 3 | 1944 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 4 | 1943 | |
| Box 1 | Folder 5 | 1944 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 1 | 1915-1938 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 2 | 1864-1955 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 3 | 1942-1943 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 4 | 1972 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 5 | 1938-1970 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 6 | 1953-1954 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 7 | 1920-1924 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 8 | 1934-1939 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 9 | 1943-1950 | |
| Box 2 | Folder 10 | 1940-1941 | |
|
Elkland, PA
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 11 | 1949 | |
|
Letters, Newsletters, Pamphlets
|
|||
| Box 2 | Folder 12 | 1937-1964 | |
|
Includes 2 photographs
|
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