Fighting for the Union Label : The Women's Garment Industry and the ILGWU in Pennsylvania

It is no coincidence that the garment industry gained a foothold in Pennsylvania?’s hard-coal region as mines were closing or reducing operations. "Runaway" factories, especially ones from Manhattan, set up shop in mining towns where labor was plentiful and unions scarce. By the 1930s garment factories employed thousands of wives and daughters of unemployed or underemployed coal miners in the Wyoming Valley but organizing workers would prove difficult for the International Ladies?’ Garment Workers?’ Union (ILGWU). Fighting for the Union Label tells the story of how workers in the Wyoming Valley, led by Min Lurye Matheson and her husband, Bill, banded together and built one of the largest and most activist movements of garment workers in the ILGWU?’s vast network. Workers?’ education, political activism, a health care center, and a widely recognized chorus were among the union?’s trademarks. Despite the union?’s influence, however, the apparel industry migrated to the American South and then overseas in the 1970s and 1980s. Tens of thousands of workers throughout the state and nation would loose their jobs, and sweatshops would become part of the economic landscape in countries like Guatemala. The first major work on the garment industry and its workers in Pennsylvania, Fighting for the Union Label draws extensively upon the Wyoming Valley Oral History Project (co-directed by Ken and Robert Wolensky) which has collected the reminiscences of more than 325 workers, factory owners, public officials, and others. The story of the dynamic Min Matheson and the rise and fall of the garment industry provides key insights into the deindustrialization of northeastern Pennsylvania

It is no coincidence that the garment industry gained a foothold in Pennsylvania’s hard-coal region as mines were closing or reducing operations. Runaway factories, especially ones from Manhattan, set up shop in mining towns where labor was plentiful and unions scarce. By the 1930s, garment factories employed thousands of wives and daughters of unemployed or underemployed coal miners in the Wyoming Valley. Organizing workers would prove difficult for the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU).

Fighting for the Union Label tells the story of how workers in the Wyoming Valley, led by Min Lurye Matheson and her husband, Bill, banded together and built one of the largest and most activist movements of garment workers in the ILGWU’s vast network. Workers’ education, political activism, a health care center, and a widely recognized chorus were among the union’s trademarks. Despite the union’s influence, however, the apparel industry migrated to the American South and then overseas in the 1970s and 1980s. Tens of thousands of workers throughout the state and nation would loose their jobs, and sweatshops would become part of the economic landscape in countries like Guatemala.

The first major work on the garment industry and its workers in Pennsylvania, Fighting for the Union Label draws extensively upon the Wyoming Valley Oral History Project (co-directed by Ken and Robert Wolensky) which has collected the reminiscences of more than 325 workers, factory owners, public officials, and others. The story of the dynamic Min Matheson and the rise and fall of the garment industry provides key insights into the deindustrialization of northeastern Pennsylvania.

Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 14 1 An Industry, a Union, and Runaway Garment Factories 24 2 The ILGWU’s Response to the Runaways 52 3 Strategizing and Organizing 72 4 Building a Union Infrastructure 102 5 Constructing an Activist Union 132 6 Our Demands Must Be Met: The 1958 General Dress Strike 174 7 Importing Apparel and Exporting Jobs 200 Epilogue 232 Appendix: Oral History Inteviews 248 Notes 252 About the Authors 278 Index 280 0271021675,9780271021676,0271021683,9780271021683 Pennsylvania State Univ Pr (Txt) A History Of The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union In Pennsylvania. An Industry, A Union, And Runaway Garment Factories -- The Ilgwu's Response To The Runaways -- Strategizing And Organizing -- Building A Union Infrastructure -- Constructing An Activist Union -- Our Demands Must Be Met: The 1958 General Dress Strike -- Importing Apparel And Exporting Jobs. Kenneth C. Wolensky, Nicole H. Wolensky, Robert P. Wolensky. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [239]-264) And Index.