Elections, General, 1965-1966

The records of the Dress Joint Board are arranged alphabetically by subject and offer an overview of the function and type of work undertaken by the Joint Board within the dress industry. The Joint Board had far reaching interests and business, and the collection is predominantly correspondence arranged alphabetically by subject, revealing the breadth of organizations, commitments, and activities of the Joint Board. For instance, the records document the Joint Boards work with Civil Rights organizations, including the NAACP, Roy Wilkins, the National Urban League, and even correspondence with Martin Luther King Jr. There is material discussing the charges of discrimination levied by NAACP labor secretary Herbert Hill against the union in 1962, as well as late 1950s reports and correspondence of the unions work with the State Commission Against Discrimination. Dress associations represented in agreements include the United Better Dress Manufacturers, the Pennsylvania Dress Manufacturers Association, and the New Jersey Dress Manufacturers. Records show organizations the Joint Board contributed money. There is also much information on elections, mainly campaign material for congressional races as well as local elections (city council). The correspondence and literature comes from the Campaign Committee. Of particular note is the material for elections within the locals for executive board, for officers, including ballots and slates.



The collection provides documentation on the dress industry, with material comprising price settlement lists, operator earnings, garment production volume/dollar volume, and wholesale firm production. There are many comparison studies, including a survey of wage rates by skill (draper, cutter, etc.). Additionally, there are facts, figures and reports from the Price Settlement Department, such as information on wage comparisons. The dispute between piece work and week work can be examined from the reports and studies on the introduction of section work and pricing in relation to the completed employee and shop week work questionnaires.



The administrative function of the Joint Board is represented through reports to the General Executive Board; records of the Health, Welfare and Retirement plans/funds, which were established in 1944, and include rules and regulations, premiums, payments, reports, receipts and disbursements; disability benefits paid out with and without hearings; decisions of the Impartial Chairman. Another component of the collection is material from the locals that composed the Joint Board as well as dress locals not in New York City (out-of-town) and their Joint Boards. This includes much material from the Northeast Department, which in 1958, had the dress department merge with the Joint Board to form the new Dressmakers' Joint Council. A large section of the collection contains files on negotiations of the Joint Board with employers and manufacturing associations for new contracts and agreements. These are organized according to year and illustrate gains and losses for the union over time through collective bargaining. Notable inclusions within the negotiations are listed in the folder titles.



General Managers of the Dress Joint Board are also represented through correspondence, memos, articles, reports, and mainly speeches. Longtime manager Julius Hochman has many folders of speeches he gave, arranged by year and convention, i.e. ILGWU, AFL, regional meetings, Workman's Circle Convention, Jewish Labor Committee. There are also speeches and correspondence of Charles Zimmerman, including during his time as president of the Jewish Labor Committee (1967-1971).



The history of the Dress Joint Board was filled consolidations and mergers. Early history can be found in the form of a constitution when it was called the Joint Board of the Dress and Waistmakers' Union, as well as when it was merged into the Joint Board of the Cloak, Suit, Skirt, Dress and Reefer Makers' Union. Also beneficial for historical information on the Joint Board are the reports that were presented to the ILGWU conventionsonly brief reports appear in the official proceedings. Finally, of note, there is the Dress Joint Board newsletter "The Organizer" from 1933 chronicling the dressmaker strike, and worth noting, there is a folder of photographs, and while many are of activities of the Joint Board, much is of a personal nature and includes snapshots of families and children.