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ILGWU Local 98 Records

 Collection
Identifier: 5780/077

Scope and Contents

The first series consists of minutes from the Executive Board meetings. The second series contains correspondence of Local 98 manager Herbert Pokodner, arranged alphabetically by subject. Much involves the administration of Local 98 and its members, and covers such topics as the Health and Welfare Funds, Union Health Center, Retirement Services, and various departments within the union.



There is much correspondence with other locals; discussing the transfer of a member to their local; invitations to events or activities of other locals; contract negotiations and new agreements--all illustrating the unique relationship between Local 98 and its rubberized plastic and fabric workers to the industry as a whole and how its manufacturing and production also correlated with the garment production of other locals.



Organizations mentioned include: Brooklyn Histadrut, City of Hope, Hispanic Labor Committee, Jewish Labor Committee, Workmen's Circle; Correspondents include: Sol Chaikin, Wilbur Daniels, James Lipsig, Gus Tyler, Louis Stulberg.



The third series consists of company files and contains correspondence, National Labor Relations Board cases and agreements.

Dates

  • 1938-1983

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection material in English, Spanish

Conditions Governing Access

Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference archivist for access to these materials.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and Procedures for Document Use.

Biographical / Historical

The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States founded in 1900 by local union delegates representing about 2,000 members in cities in the northeastern United States. It was one of the first U.S. Unions to have a membership consisting of mostly females, and it played a key role in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s. The union is generally referred to as the "ILGWU" or the "ILG". The ILGWU grew in geographical scope, membership size, and 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. The ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union in 1995 to form the Union of Needle trades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE). UNITE merged with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) in 2004 to create a new union known as UNITE HERE. The two unions that formed UNITE in 1995 represented only 250,000 workers between them, down from the ILGWU's peak membership of 450,000 in 1969.

Biographical / Historical

Local 98 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), also known as the Rubberized Plastic Fabric Workers' Union, was based in New York, New York.

Extent

4 cubic feet

Abstract

The collection contains meeting minutes of Local 98's Executive Board, Manager Herbert Pokodner's correspondence, and company files that document the union's organizing and service efforts.

Arrangement

Series I: Executive Board minutes

Series II: Herbert Pokodner's correspondence

Series III: Company files

Related Materials

Related Collections: 5780: ILGWU records

Quantity:

4 linear ft.

Forms of Material:

Records (documents), minutes (administrative records) .

General

Contact Information:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives 227 Ives Hall Tower Road Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-3183 kheelref@cornell.edu https://catherwood.library.cornell.edu/kheel/
Compiled by:
D. Mordente, February 25, 2009
EAD encoding:
Kheel Staff, April 11, 2019
Title
ILGWU Local 98 Records
Status
Completed
Author
Compiled by D. Mordente
Date
April 11, 2019
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Revision Statements

  • 02/23/2024: This resource was modified by the ArchivesSpace Preprocessor developed by the Harvard Library (https://github.com/harvard-library/archivesspace-preprocessor)

Repository Details

Part of the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives Repository

Contact:
227 Ives Hall Tower Road
Ithaca NY 14853
607-255-3183