The Shambles: Broken Bridges Over the Seas by Vanni B. Montana.

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).

Vanni B. Montana (Giovanni Buscemi) was born February 12, 1902 in Mazara del Vallo in southwestern Sicily. As a socialist in a growing fascist state, Montana fled his native land as a political refugee finding himself first in Vienna, before heading to Berlin and settling in Paris. On his travels, Montana came in contact and befriended other Italian anti-fascists and socialists. During his time in France, he took classes, worked with Italian immigrants, and he helped organize and unionize laborers, diggers, and restaurant workers, arranging strikes and giving speeches. On July 4, 1928, Montana immigrated to the United States and soon found himself surrounded by the Italian-American community and antifascists, becoming employed by the newspapers "Il Lavoratore" and "Il Nuovo Mondo" (later "La Stampa Libera"). He became involved in the Italian socialist movement, organizing rallies against fascism and urging opposition against Mussolini. After the war, Montana was active in the rebuilding of a democratic Italy, and organized one of the first people to people tourism programs to bring Italian immigrants and their American born children to the country.



Montana was a co-founder of the Italian-American Labor Council in 1941, and helped draft the petition to exempt Italian citizens living in the United States from the "enemy aliens" category. For thirty-four years, he was an editor of "Giustizia," the Italian publication of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, as well as the Education Director of ILGWU Local 89 and worked on the "Voice of Local 89" radio program. Montana died in 1991 at the age of 89.