The United Garment Workers of America (UGW or UGWA) was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

labor union which existed between 1891 and 1994. It was an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor.

History

The UGWA was formed in New York in April 1891 and lead a successful strike of 16,000 garment workers in New York City in 1893, but soon adopted a more conservative, conciliatory tone with manufacturers. Thomas A. Rickert of Chicago served as UGW's president from 1904 through at least 1939. At the UGW's 1914 convention in Nashville, Tennessee, a number of large urban locals, with stronger Socialist loyalties and more willingness to strike, and who represented a full two-thirds of the national membership, split off to form the rival

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 Indus ...

under Hillman's founding leadership. In 1994, the UGW's 15,000 members merged into the

United Food and Commercial Workers The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufacturing; hosp ...

Strikes

The union came to national attention with the 1910 Chicago Garment Workers' Strike, which had started as a spontaneous strike on September 22, by a handful of women workers at

Hart Schaffner & Marx Hart Schaffner Marx is an American manufacturer of tailored menswear owned by New York-based Authentic Brands Group. Founded in 1887 and incorporated in 1911 as "Hart Schaffner & Marx", the company is located in Des Plaines, Illinois. History T ...

. It spread to a citywide labor action of almost 40,000 workers that lasted until February 1911. Chicago was then the largest producer of men's garments in the United States, Hart Schaffner & Marx the largest of Chicago manufacturers, and UGW the only union in the industry. The strike was a bitter one, with hundreds of strikers injured and two killed. Future union president

Sidney Hillman Sidney Hillman (March 23, 1887 – July 10, 1946) was an American labor leader. He was the head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and in marshaling labor' ...

was a rank-and-file leader, and lawyer

Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the early 20th century for his involvement in the Leopold and Loeb murder trial and the Scopes "Monkey" Trial. He was a leading member of t ...

was involved with the settlement negotiations. The action not only pitted workers against management and against Chicago police on horseback, it also exposed divisions in the union—namely that the organization did not support its unskilled members. Similar allegations dogged the UGA's mishandling of the 1913 New York Garment Workers Strike, a nine-week walkout of some 85,000 workers. 1913 Rochester Garment Workers Strike

Later UGW strikes included one in February, 1913, in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

, where striker

Ida Braiman Ida Braiman (died February 5, 1913) (sometimes spelled Brayman, Breiman, or Braeman) was a Ukrainian Jewish garment worker killed while on strike for better working conditions in Rochester, New York. Her death brought statewide attention to the ...

was killed and others wounded by gunfire. During a subsequent strike in Chicago in October 1915, striker Edward Kapper was killed in a riot on October 26, and 10-year-old bystander Leo Schroeder was crushed by a mob on the 29th.

References

External links

UGW papers at the Georgia State University Library
{{Authority control 1891 establishments in New York (state) American Federation of Labor History of labor relations in the United States Defunct trade unions in the United States Clothing industry trade unions Trade unions established in 1891 United Food and Commercial Workers