ILGWU Union Health Center Publications

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.

In 1913, the New York City locals of the ILGWU established the Union Health Center (UHC), under the direction of Dr. George Price of the Joint Board of Sanitary Control. Initially, the UHC offered physical exams, medical treatments, access to a dental clinic, and information about health and hygiene. For a period, the center operated through a cooperative plan, with patients paying a fee and the union subsidizing the rest of the cost of the visit. During the Depression, the cost of running the center was met by other means. This included getting other local unions in New York City, such as the electrical workers, metal workers, letter carriers, post office clerks, and pocketbook workers, to affiliate with the UHC, as well as winning an official endorsement from the Central Labor Union of New York. Beginning in the 1940s, New York City manufacturers agreed to contribute to a fund that would cover the cost of medical services provided to members at the UHC.



By the 1960s, the UHC offered comprehensive care to ILGWU members and their families, and over the years, the center's range of services expanded to include social and psychological services, eye exams, maternity care, and surgical consultation. The Union Health Center continues its work today at 275 Seventh Avenue, in New York City.