The Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) was a

labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

representing workers in two related industries in the United States. The union was founded in 1976, when the

Textile Workers Union of America The Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA) was an industrial union of textile workers established through the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1939 and merged with the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America to become the Amalgamated Clo ...

merged with the

Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) was a United States labor union known for its support for "social unionism" and progressive political causes. Led by Sidney Hillman for its first thirty years, it helped found the Congress of Ind ...

. The small

American Federation of Hosiery Workers The American Federation of Hosiery Workers (AFHW) was a labor union representing workers involved in manufacturing hosiery. The union's origins lay in the United Textile Workers of America (UTWA), which in 1913 formed a craft group named the Amer ...

also joined. On foundation, the new union had about 500,000 members. Like both its predecessors, it affiliated to the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

. In 1979, the

United Shoe Workers of America The United Shoe Workers of America (USWA) was a trade union representing workers involved in making shoes and other leather goods. History The union was founded in 1937, when the United Shoe and Leather Workers' Union merged with the Shoe Workers ...

merged in, followed in 1983 by the

United Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union The United Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union (1934–1983), also known by acronyms including UHCMW, U.H.C. & M.W.I.U. and UHC & MWIU, was a 20th-century American labor union. History In 1934, the United Hatters of North Amer ...

. The union successfully campaigned to unionize workers at J.P. Stevens & Co. However, the industry was in sharp decline in the United States, and by 1995, the union had only 129,000 members. That year, it merged with the

International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), whose members were employed in the women's clothing industry, was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States, one of the first U.S. unions to have a primarily female membe ...

, to form the

Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees The Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE, often stylized UNITE!) was a labor union in the United States. In 2004, UNITE merged with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) to form UNITE HERE. Histor ...

Presidents

:1976:

Murray Finley Murray Howard Finley (March 31, 1922 – July 31, 1995) was an American labor union leader and lawyer. Born in Syracuse, New York, Finley attended the University of Michigan in the early 1940s. While there, he worked in an automobile plant, j ...

:1986:

Jack Sheinkman Jacob Sheinkman (December 6, 1926 – January 29, 2004) was an American labor union leader. Sheinkman was born in the Bronx, to parents who had recently emigrated from Kyiv. In his youth, Sheinkman attended Evander Childs High School and was ...

{{cite web , title=ACTWU President Jacob Sheinkman Files , url=https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/KCL05619-004.html , website=Cornell University Library , publisher=Cornell University , access-date=20 April 2022

References

Defunct trade unions in the United States Textile and clothing trade unions Trade unions established in 1976 Trade unions disestablished in 1995