ILGWU. Local 22. Charles S. Zimmerman photographs

Founded in 1900 by local union delegates representing about 2,000 members in cities in the northeastern United States, the ILGWU grew in geographical scope, membership size, political influence to become one of the most powerful forces in American organized labor by mid-century. Representing workers in the women's garment industry, the ILGWU worked to improve working and living conditions of its members through collective bargaining agreements, training programs, health care facilities, cooperative housing, educational opportunities, and other efforts. In 1995, the ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) to form the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE).

Charles Sasha Zimmerman was born in Russia in 1897. He arrived in the United States in 1913 and soon found work in garment shops. His career with the ILGWU began in 1916 when he went to work in a waist shop and joined Local 25. By 1925, Zimmerman was a member of the Executive Board for Dressmakers' Local 22. Throughout the 1920s, Zimmerman was an active member of the Communist Party, an affiliation that cost him his leadership positions within the union in 1925. He was involved with the bitter Communist infighting, and though he initially belonged to the Communist Party, he soon saw that they subverted the strike of 1926 for its own purposes which nearly decimated the ILGWU. With other members now opposed to Communism, Zimmerman worked to rid the Communist influence from the union and help reorganize the dress industry with his reinstatement in 1931. Even after his reinstatement in the ILGWU, he maintained close ties with the anti-Stalinist Lovestonites of the Communist Party.



Zimmerman was elected manager of Local 22 in 1933, and the next year became a vice president of the ILGWU. He became general manager of the New York Dress Joint Board and the Dressmakers' Joint Council in 1958. Zimmerman was involved with civil rights, social welfare and international labor organizations throughout his career. He was a trustee of the National Urban League, chairman of the Jewish Labor Committee's National Trade Union Council for Human Rights, and a member of New York City's first Human Rights Commission. Zimmerman helped found the Inter-American Federation of Textile and Garment Workers in 1966 and served as a U.S. representative to the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation. In 1969, Zimmerman was elected president of the Jewish Labor Committee and named to the Civil Rights and Social Security committees of the AFL-CIO. He resigned as a union vice president and general manager of the Dress Joint Council and New York Dress Joint Board in 1972. Zimmerman died in 1983.

Local 22 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), also known as the Dressmakers' Union, was chartered in December 1920 and based in New York City. The dress industry formed its own Joint Board in 1921 composed of Local 22 Dressmakers, Local 25 Waistmakers, Local 58 Waist Buttonhole Makers, Local 60 Waist and Dress Pressers, Local 66 Bonnaz Embroidery Workers, Local 89 Italian Waist and Dressmakers, and the waist and dress branch of Cutters' Local 10. A general work stoppage in February 1923 in the dress industry won the union a 40 hour week and 10 percent wage increase, as well as a large gain of new members. During the summer of 1923, after years of discussion and deliberation, the two dress locals, Local 23 and 22 were consolidated. The dressmakers from Local 23 transferred to Local 22 and subsequently Local 22 joined the New York Cloakmakers' Joint Board. Soon, the Dress and Waist Joint Board became unnecessary and was dissolved. Local 25 Waistmakers were left without an affiliated organization and in October 1924 merged with the Dressmakers' Union, Local 22.



By the end of 1926, the Communists had gained control of the dress organization in New York City and the union barely existed. In February 4, 1930, 25,000 dressmakers walked out of the shops. The strike was called to reorganize dressmakers and finally abolish the Communist influence in the industry. On April 8, 1930 the General Executive Board decided to separate the dressmakers from the Cloakmakers' Joint Board. In 1931, Charles Zimmerman formed a committee to rebuild Local 22. He was elected to executive board of Local 22 in 1932, and elected manager-secretary in 1933. Another walkout in all dress shops, both union and non-union on August 16, 1933 brought the dress industry to a halt.



Zimmerman left Local 22 in 1958 to become manager of the Dress Joint Board. Israel Breslow succeeded him as manager of Local 22 from 1958 until his retirement in 1975. By 1975, the New York Dress Joint Board completed restructuring of affiliate locals, and Locals 60-60A, 159, and 38 were merged into existing Locals 22 and 89. Local 22 gained jurisdiction over all dressmakers in Manhattan. In the 1980s, more locals were dissolved and members transferred to Local 22, but by 1984, Local 22 saw restructuring as well. Changes in the garment industry necessitated the dissolution of the Joint Board and Local 22 into the new Local 89-22-1.