The Origins of ILGWU
March
28, 2005
Nora Sugermeyer
Class F
Mr. Houston
Thesis:
Founded in 1900 the International Ladies
Garment Workers Union (ILGWU)
created
a mixture of socialist and craft union for women’s
clothing industry, to protect workers rights.
Title:
Sewers make Changes
I. Intro
A. Overview of the beginning of ILGWU
B. Founded in 1900 the ILGWU created a
mixture of socialist and craft union for women clothing industry, to
protect
workers rights.
II. Body
A. Employees/Beliefs
1.
Immigrants
2.
Socialism
3.
Industrial unionism
B.
Local 25
1.
Branch of ILGWU
2.
Leader
C. Influential
Members
1.
Anna Weinstein
2.
Clara Lemlich
3.
John Dyche
4.
Eleanor Roosevelt
5.
Valentine Chartand
6.
Minor Characters
D. Early
problems and Success
1.
Memberships variation
2. Business Cycle
3.
Strikes
4.
Triangle Shirtwaist Tragedy
E.
Government
1.
New Deal influence
2.
Nineteenth Amendment victory for women
3.
Roosevelt’s re-election
4.
“Buy American” campaign
F.
Present Day Status
1. The Union of Needle trades, Textiles
and Industrial Employees (UNITE)
2.
Jack Sheinkman past president
3.
Emanuel Leventhal benefits league battle
III.
Conclusion
A. accomplishments of the Union
B. thesis reached
When the
farming industry required fewer workers and the Untied States became
industrialized it was still a white men’s world. Immigrates and women
where
treated like slaves on the farms as they eventually were in factories.
Unions
were then formed to protected the rights of the women workers but they
where
still run by men. There was one union that would prove to make a
difference for
all workers who joined it. This union was the International Ladies
Garment
Workers Union (ILGWU). Founded in 1900 the ILGWU
created a mixture of the socialist and craft union for women’s clothing
industry to protect workers rights.
To start
any organization, not just a union, members needed to stick together
and work
for the same cause. The ILGWU had this. When the International Ladies
Garment
Workers Union was formed in the 1900 it was organized
by male cloak workers (McCreesh). The union supported the worker who
made
women’s clothing. When the workers got together after the founding of
the union
they set up a union that combined a socialist-industrial union that had
to do
with workers class and with craft to gain job control and collective
bargaining
which is negotiation between an employer and a trade union (Friedman,
301).Since
most of the Lower East Side in New York and members of the ILGWU were
socialists, it just seemed natural to them (Dash, 53). The union was
headed by
Jewish immigrant socialists that were feared and who kept the original
commitment to industrial unionism (Green, The world, 141). The union
was also
dominated by Italian immigrants; these two groups made the membership
grow
rapidly in only the first five years of the unions opening
(International, 1).
70 percent of the industry’s work force was young immigrant women;
despite this
many people believed women didn’t have the ability to hold constructive
membership (McCreesh). Unlike radical feminists who campaigned to get
equal
rights, social feminists favored defensive legislation (Green, The
World, 72).
To first become a member of the ILGWU, a lot of money would be taken
form their
pay every week. This was done to pay for the union. Since they where
paying for
the union, they thought that it would support them in all their
requests but
sometimes when a request was brought up they wouldn’t receive an answer
although
sometimes they were helped (Bleweet, 51). The member of the union were
united
regardless of skill, race, nationality, and contributed to the building
of
socialist ideas ( Green, The World, 78) Believing in socialism was one
of the
most important ideals of being in the union because with this idea
members
would have a better chance of getting the rights that they wanted. The
members
of ILGWU were skilled male cutters and females who sewed and pressed at
the
local shops (Green, Commonwealth, 47). The men had more power than
women so the
union encouraged its women members to run the local themselves
(Bleweet, 51).The
locals where small branches of the bigger union that helped contain
control of
a fast growing union. Black women in the industry depended on the ILGWU
being
willing to have them be part of them. Even though there were two or
three black
women who did work in the union they never complained about the unions’
racism
(Dash, 139). In Boston, one
branch of the union, the local 12, was black women and Jewish men
fought to
keep the female employers from being under paid for there hard work
(Green, Commonwealth,
113). By the 1938 Mary Sweet organized Black women who worked at
presses to
fight against very discouraging idea. They had a hard time due to all
the
racial discrimination (Green, Commonwealth, 113). One of the biggest
problems
of a union after it is formed is the people who joined as members and
the
beliefs that they had and their willingness to work together. Despite
the
racism and many other problems that members had, the union was off to a
good
start. To help keep all of the members organized they would form small
branches
of the one big union called locals. The locals would help the
membership in
smaller organized groups.
There where
many locals, which where branches of ILGWU, but one stood out Local 25.
Local
25 was founded after the original founding of the International Ladies
Garment
Workers Union. It was founded in 1906 and at the
beginning only had six members. By 1909, the membership had grown to
around 100
(Dash, 12). The founding of local 25 came about one day when Clara
Lemlich went
with a group of other young people to the office of “Jewish Daily
Forward” and
they learned how to form a union (Dash, 29). Many of the locals where
formed
with the same believes as those of the ILGWU. That is why the locals
helped to
have representatives to keep all the members in the union organized.
Without
some of the people the union would never have succeeded and what was
accomplished would have been.
There were
some members in the International Ladies Garment Workers Union that were
very influential in what they did. They had an impact on the rest of
the union
members. One member who really felt the Union was good
was Anna Weinstein. Before the union came to here shop she had said;
“No
girl would say anything or even complain…
because
she was afraid she would lose her job.
The
boss would do everything in his power
to
rob the girl of her-self confidence, and
and
in a short period of time she became
nothing
more than a robot. With the coming
of
the union all these things changed. Now
the
girls have a power stronger than the bosses
to
back them. We are no longer robots. We are
independent……”
(Green, The World, 167)
Anna Weinstein’s union grew in the
decade by 500 percent to 200,000 members. Three fourths of the members
were
women. In 1940 there was only one woman in the 24 executive board spots
(Green,
The World, 167). Another women who made great contributions to the
union was Clara
Lemlich she was a member of Local 25 one of the branch in ILGWU and she
was
also on the executive board. She worked at the Leiserson factory. Clara
earned
about three times the amount of a normal worker because she was a
skilled
worker. Despite this, she joined the strikes for other workers to get
high
wages, fewer hours of work and human dignity (Dash, 13). Even though
Clara was
a skilled worker who received more for her work she didn’t receive any
money
for being on the executive boards only the men where paid (Dash, 30). A man who made a great difference and was a
main part of the union was John Dyche. He was the ILGWU national
secretary in
1909 (Dash, 49). In 1932 Dave Dubinnsky was elected president of the
ILGWU.
This was at the time of Depression and the union was at an all time
low. He
would work had and get the union through this. There also was the clash
with
Dubinsky being the moderate leader, and the issue of the communists
trying to
take over. They didn’t succeed but it cost the union lots of morale,
time, and
money. Then in 1966 David Dubinsky retired (International, 1).
Eleanor
Roosevelt was a strong supporter of women in the work force. Beginning
in 1922
Eleanor, became a long term friend to the ILGWU and also a supported
strongly
labor issues. She also joined the National Women’s Trade Union League
herself.
Eleanor had a working relationship with the leader, rank and file
members. During
her time as first lady she could encourage corporations, and help get
stronger
labor laws (International, 1). Having Eleanor Roosevelt is a friend to
the
ILGWU was a great thing because she was on their side. Her beliefs
helped to
use higher power to solve some of the member’s demands.
There
were two other women who were very active as shop stewards; they were
Valentine
Chartand and Yvonne Hoar. The relationship that these women held with
their
father helped them to defy management, because they were able to
recognize that
their fathers could be wrong (Bleweet, 42). Valentine was a stitcher in
a
garment shop, in Lowell Mass. The local
cheap labor was the reason she became a member of the International
Ladies
Garment Workers Union (Bleweet, 44). The first place
Valentine took her first stitch was at a shop called Paris Lingerine
there she made slips and night gowns for women. When she became a
member of
ILGWU she was a chairman for the union and also on the price committee.
She did
this because she was a fighter. Sometimes she would win, other times
she wasn’t
so lucky (Bleweet, 51). Active members of the union, Lucie Cordeau,
went to
work at Jay Dress Shop after her husband died. She worked there for ten
years
and through those ten years, even if she had a cold, she had to go to
work, or
the next when she got up to go to work she wouldn’t have a job
(Bleweet, 79).
Katie Quan in 1960 recruited Latin and Asian women to join the union in
great
numbers. This was a way of boosting and diversifying the union. Some
other
women who where very active in the union as far as organizing went were
Rosa
Schneiderman, a Polish cap maker, Gertude Barnum, who organized
dressmakers and
a socialist Lithuanian, Pauline Newman (McCreesh). All of these members
made a
difference in the ILGWU that helped it to be so successful. Some of
them helped
in the overall union others in small parts no matter how big or small
it made a
difference. With members like these and many others the union would be
able to
have where good times and pull through the bad ones.
The
fluctuation of business cycle was a normal way of life. Sometimes
things would
be very good other times they wouldn’t. The ILGWU started small and
then grew;
the founders of the union encouraged the union label, but frowned upon
strikes
and promoting socialism (McCreesh). When the ILGWU was four years old
it was
doing very well, but one year later there was a risk of it
disappearing. By its
ninth year they were making it was back slowly (Dash, 48). In 1909 the
ILGWU
only had four dollars in its treasury. They still called a strike
against the
Triangle Shirtwaist Company. The company in return hired thugs to
attack the
union picketers (Green, The World, 71). The strike was young Eastern
European,
Jewish, and Italian workers who made 3 dollars for a 54 hour work week.
The
strike was called the “Uprising of the twenty thousand”. The females
working in
the shirtwaist factory in New York livened up
the union (McCreesh). This was the first strike it had 20,000 New York shirtwaist
makers who were mostly women. This strike last a good fourteen weeks.
Several
months after “The Uprising” strike, there was another strike consigned
of
60,000 cloak makers. After both strikes, negotiations took place. The
International Ladies Garment Workers Union was looked
at more closely by the industry. They were granted higher wages, also
important
benefits for their members such as health examinations (International,
1). In
the summer of 1909, 200 employees at Rosen Brothers walked out on
strike. Within
five weeks the owner reached an agreement but by time it had started a
chain
effect of strikes. One company, Rosen Brothers, had an effect on
Leiserson’s.
Clara Lemlich, a worker at Leiserson, went on the picket line but was
removed
and was beaten by thug who had been hired to do so. She was put in the
hospital
with broken ribs (Dash, 13). In all of history, no group of women had
been
involved in a large strike, a general strike but it seemed the time in
the mid
1900’s was just as good as any other to start. If the general strike
succeeded
the union would gain from it greatly. John Dyche wasn’t too sure about
this and
believed that a committee to investigate the working condition in
factories
should be formed (Dash, 51). Normally the ILGWU strikes were one shop
at a
time, but all of New York was going
to strike at once this time. Dyche and other men knew this was what
they had
been hoping for, a chance to show the world what they could do (Dash,
63).
During the strike in New York there were
over seven hundred arrests and fines of over one million dollars. Seen
as a
woman’s strike, the ILGWU or the labor movement never really supported
it fully
(Dash, 111). Members of the local 25
were on board with the general strike. They voted and approved the
general
strike, but they needed money and publicity to pull it off. An
abundance of
well connected women who sympathized with the cause helped with public
attention and money (Dash, 48). This was a point that proved how men
really had
a lot of the power and still where in control of many situations. In
1911, only
two years after the strikes through out New York, 146
workers mostly women died in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. This was a
pivotal
event. The fire lead to a public call to have laws to protect the
workers
(International, 1). This event was the point in history where the
workers were
going to get good working conditions and all the other demands they
wanted no
matter what. The union workers held out through freezing temperatures,
strike
breakers, assaults, arrests, imprisonment, and police brutality. The
women
union workers showed how they could work together to get improvements
on
working conditions and get some union recognition (McCreesh). The
International
Ladies Garment Workers Union was the
first union of women workers who brought a stop to industrials for
thirteen
weeks (Dash, 145). When a union meeting was held, it was in a
smoke-filled
café, at night in a ghetto (Dash, 30). The theme among ILGWU was
equality and
social justice. Even though they were making progress, they needed to
be
patient to reach their goal. They needed to go through a slow process
with tough
steps to get there (Dash, 54). In 1916 the ILGWU gained a better
contract, this
gave them the right to strike against discriminatory layoffs (Green,
The World,
77). Also in 1916, 50 percent of the union members were women and eight
of them
even held organizational and educator director spots (McCreesh). As
time went
on, things got better for the ILGWU. In 1920, it was considered to be
one of
the most powerful unions in organized labor. Also in the 1920’s all of
the
union’s problems were coming to the boiling point. Communists were
trying to
take over union leadership which meant that the unions would work with
the
government this would eliminate companies from the process
(International, 1).
TUEL did take leadership from some of the local LGWU by disagreeing
with
socialist reorganization plan. This ended a disaster after a strike in
1926
(Green, The World, 130). In 1935 after the Wagner Act was passed the
union
regained membership after it had lost quite I few members in 1920’s to
anti-union groups (McCreesh). After World War II the ILGWU had solid
membership
and powerful influence groups in Washington (International, 1). In the
1930’s
the female union members increased by 300 percent. This gave them a
total of
800,000 members in 1940 (Green, The World, 167). During
the 1930 and 1940 the International
Ladies Garment Workers Union was at the height of power being one of
the most
progressive and important unions in the U.S. at this time
(International, 1).In
the 1940 the ILGWU members received higher wages, shorter work days,
and
dignity (Green, The World, 167). Then
when David Dubinsky retired in 1966 for the next thirty years after his
retirement things began to fall apart despite innovations, consumers,
organization,
and new immigration groups. Also the union had rivalries within itself
between
the socialists, anarchists, and also other radical movements. These
problems
had been with the union from the start though. The Communist group
failed to
take control of the union leadership and moderates took over
(International, 1).
The business cycle had a great impact on the International Ladies
Garment
Workers Union. Through all the ups and downs the
union made it through to stand tall and be able to support its members.
The
government had a great influence on the union and the new ideas that
were
thought up were a big help to the stabilization of the union.
The
government had a great impact on the ILGWU because with new laws and
rules
being put in to process some help the union while others didn’t. The
union was
formed to improve working conditions for the manufacturing of women’s
clothing.
To the advantage of the courts the ILGWU had them enforce health and
safety at
work. Some of the women workers complained male-dominated leadership of
the
union that was 90 percent female (McCreesh).Many women went from
textile
working to garment sticking so they could be under the protection of
the ILGWU
(Bleweet, 42). From the government the workers eventually received
health
benefits, social and educational programs, paid vacations, and also job
security (McCreesh). Under the leadership of David Dubinsky the union
took the ideas
of the New Deal for its recovery policies. This included bargaining
collectively and the right to organize (International, 1). By using the
New Deal
the basis for organization thrived. The membership grew from 45,000 in
1932 to
200,000 in 1934 and then 450,000 more in 1960 (Friedman, 301). After
the New
Deal the members of ILGWU wanted to win votes for Roosevelt’s
re-election so they dropped their historic ties with Socialist Party.
They
created the American Labor Party which helped re-elect the president
and helped
get their own candidates elected in state, congressional and local
votes
(Green, The World, 154).
The
next great accomplishment was passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. The
Nineteenth Amendment was ratified; giving female suffrage after a
century of
hard ship. This gave representation to social and political advances
for women.
Public life no more was male dominated (Green, The World, 126).
There
was also the “Buy American” campaign that ended attacks on foreign
labor which
had started at the beginning of labor movements (Green, The World,
223).
Through government help the union was able to improve conditions for
other
unions by establishing new social welfare such as hospitals, medical,
disability. Also things like pensions and shorter working days were
reached (Friedman,
301). Through all of these things the union was able to thrive and
still be
around today.
Unions
may seen to not be important today, but the ILGWU and other unions have
a lot
to do with things like dot-com and cell phones today (Temple, 1). ILGWU
in 1995
joined with other unions to form The Union of Needle
trades, Textiles and Industrial Employees (UNITE). UNITE has more then
350,000
members in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico combined. The president of
ILGWU, Jay Mazur, is the
president of the new union and Irwin Solomon who was the general
secretary-treasurer of ILGWU retired after the formation of UNITE
(Union). Jack
Sheinkman was the president of the largest union for clothing workers
(Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union). His
union joined ILGWU in UNITE and he will be holding a spot as president
also in
this new union (Greenhouse, Jack, 2). There is also not so much joy for
every
one who worked in ILGWU such as Emanuel Leventha who worked for the
union for
43 years where he put up with low pay because he liked the ideas and
support
the union gave to helping immigrant workers. Emanuel was promised, like
many
workers, that he would have financial security when he retired. Now
retired, he
is leading a rebellion against a union he worked for, during his
working life
because he feels betrayed by them. Now ILGWU as part of UNITE is
believed to
have cut the life insurance policy because the company was at a ten
million
deficit and needed to do something to help themselves. He is expected
to be
suing the union so that the retirees can get their agreements they
signed for
(Greenhouse, Union, 2). International Ladies Garment
Workers Union is still around today except with a
different name and combined with other groups. The union has come a
long way
and helped many workers especially women to get the rights they
deserved. The
organization supported the workers to make a change which is what made
they
stay around for so long.
A
union that was founded in the 1900 helped workers to create a mixture
of
socialist and craft union for women in the clothing industry, and also
protect
their rights. The ILGWU really did make a difference for many people
but
especially women with out its help of organizing people together to
fight for
the rightly deserved working conditions, befits, and wages it would
have taken
a lot longer for changes to be made and by then maybe it would have
been to
late. This union was also a gate way into women getting the rights and
equality
they needed. Thanks to the International Ladies Garment Workers Union
women and
all workers can go to work every day knowing they will be safe, have
the right
benefits they need, and be paid a decent amount of money to support
their
families. So always keep in mind the union label.
Work Cited
1.
Bleweet, Mary H., the
Last Generation Work and Life in the Textile Mills of
Lowell, Massachusetts, 1910-1960. The University of Massachusetts Press.
1990
2.
Dash, Joan. We
shall not be Moved the Women’s Factory Strike of 1990.
New York: Scholastic
Inc, 1996.
Clam Source Call # J331, 4 Das
3.
Friedman, Harvey L. “International Ladies’
Garment
Workers Union”
Encyclopedia Americana 15:301. Danbury, Connecticut: Grolier
Inc, 1996
4.
Green, James R., Hartford, William
F., Juravich, Tom. Commonwealth of Toll
Chapter
in the History of Massachusetts Worker and
their Union. University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1996
5.
Green, James R., The
World of the Workers Labor in
Twentieth-Century
America. Hill and
Wang New York. 1980
6.
Greenhouse, Steven. “Jack Sheinkman, 77,
Lawyer; Led
Clothing Workers’
Union” New York Times 01-30-2004: A.23
http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/libweb/elib/do/document
7.
Greenhouse, Steven. “Union Retires Prepare
fight over
cuts of Life
Insurance”. The New York Times 06-13-2003: B.7
http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/libweb/elib/do/document
8.
“International Ladies Garment Workers Union(1900-1995)”
. Eleanor
Roosevelt National
Historic site.2-9-05
http://www.nps.gov/elro/glossary/ilgwu.htm
9.
McCreesn, Carolyn “Labor Unions:
International Ladies
Garment Workers
Union”. Reader’s
Companion to U.S women’s history: February 10 2005
http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/women/html
10.
Temple, Paul.
“Joe Hill and the New Economy”.
Workforce 11-01-2000:10
http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/libweb/elib/do/document
11.
“Union
Merger is announced”. The New York Times 02-21-1995: D.9
http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/libweb/elib/do/document
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