Charles P. Wang Testimony., 1989

The Operations Department records consist materials relating to the ILGWU's efforts to maintain a ban on industrial homework, manuals for operations standards in the manufacturing of women's blouses and women's skirts, and collective bargaining agreements. The records relating to homework and operations standards date from the 1980s, and the collective bargaining agreements are from the years just before the ILGWU merged with ACTWU in 1995.



Researchers interested in ILGWU statements on homework and related issues should consult the Research Department records, 5780/209. Likewise, researchers looking for additional collective bargaining agreements should consult collections in Series VI, Contracts and Case Files (5780/075, 5780/075 mf, 5780/145, 5780/146, 5780/147, 5780/158, 5780/191). These records, and others throughout the ILGWU records, complement the records of the Operations Department.



In 1942, federal regulators prohibited homework in five industries--gloves and mittens, embroideries, buttons and buckles, handkerchiefs and jewelry production, as it was difficult to enforce federal wage and hour laws for work done in the home. After forty-five years, the ban was lifted, and this collection documents the ILGWU efforts to block the new homework rules. The collection contains reports, comments, testimonies, and statements submitted by the ILGWU and other interested organizations and individuals concerning revisions to the federal regulation of employment of homeworkers in certain industries, proposed between 1986 and 1989.