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Sessions of General Executive Board

A Brief Preliminary Review

The quarterly meeting of the General Executive Board held in Boston last month, beginning with August 15, resembled a convention more than a board meeting, both in point of attendance of committees and the character of the proceedings.

Committees from the New York Joint Board and from its locals separately, and a committee representing 2,500 members of Local No. 1, appeared before the meeting, urging the General Executive Board to end the state of disorder caused by the present Executive Board of the Cloak Operators' Union, Local No. 1, severing its affiliation with the Joint Board and acting in defiance of the entire organization.

Committees from Philadelphia, Boston and Worcester, swelled the large gathering and made this meeting memorable.

The questions discussed had reference to the well being of all our local unions and important resolutions were adopted.

A more detailed report will appear in the next issue of the "Ladies' Garment Worker," as Secretary Baroff could not complete the records in time for this issue, so that only a brief resume of the decisions can be reported in this column.

The urgent questions alluded to absorbed so much time that on August 21 the meeting had not concluded and was continued in the General Office, New York, until August 23. Upon request of the General Executive Board a committee representing the Executive Board of Local No. I attended the meeting for the purpose of hearing the complaints and charges against them and filing any answer thereto if they wished to do so.

In course of a long discussion, in which all the members of the G. E. B. participated, general regret was expressed at the action of the officers of Local No. 1, which led to the present situation in the Cloakmakers' Union of New York. Everyone felt that this irresponsible and disorderly state of affairs must not be allowed to continue, and that strict measures must be taken to restore order and discipline in our union.

DECISION OF THE GENERAL EXECUTIVE BOARD IN THE MATTER OF LOCAL NO. 1

The General Executive Board of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union has fully considered the situation arising out of the controversy between Local No. 1 (Operators) of New York and the Joint Board of Cloak, Skirt and Reefer Makers' Unions of that city.

More than three days were given by the Board to the hearing of the charges against Local No. 1, to the defense and counter charges of the latter and to arguments on both sides. Local No. I was represented by a committee consisting of brothers Meyer Rubin, I. Friedman, A. Bisno and A. Padover; the Joint Board by brothers M. Sigman and J. Kimbarowsky, while each of the ten locals affiliated with the Joint Board was either separately and specially represented by committees or presented its attitude by means of written statements or resolutions.

A written petition bearing the signature of about twenty-five hundred members of Local No. I was also presented to the Board, requesting the latter to put an end to the state of strife and chaos created by the officers of the Local.

Upon a fair and careful consideration of all the evidence and arguments, the General Executive Board unanimously finds that Local No. I and its officers have flagrantly, deliberately and repeatedly violated the constitution of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, as well as the most fundamental principles of trade unionism and working class solidarity.

It has severed its affiliation with the other Local Unions of New York by withdrawing from the Joint Board; it has called shop strikes without the sanction of the Joint Board; has undertaken to negotiate with employers for separate agreements and has generally inaugurated a policy of irresponsible individualism and anarchy, detrimental alike to its own members and to the workers in all other branches of the industry.

Such a policy, if tolerated and continued, would inevitably lead to constant internal

strife within our own ranks, which would benefit none but the employers and spell ruin and disaster to the workers.

The General Executive Board feels that it is in duty bound to take immediate and energetic action to save the situation, and hence decides:

1) That Local No. 1 is hereby ordered, a) to forthwith call off any and all shop strikes inaugurated or conducted without the consent of the Joint Board; b) to immediately withdraw all separate agreements, concluded or proposed, between Local No. 1 and any employer; c) to re-affiliate itself with the Joint Board at or before the next regular meeting of the Board in accordance with the provisions of the constitution of the International and upon the same terms upon which it was affiliated before seceding.

2) Should Local No. 1 fail to comply with the above order or any part of it, it shall stand expelled from the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, such expulsion to take effect on the 15th day of September, 1917.

3) In the event of such expulsion a new local of cloak operators shall at once be formed, and all members of Local No. 1, who desire to remain affiliated with the International and to work harmoniously with their fellow workers in the trade, shall be allowed to transfer to the new local without initiation fees or other charges.

4) That a committee consisting of the president of the International and VicePresidents S. Koldofsky and H. Schoolman is hereby appointed to fully investigate all jurisdictional and other controversies between the workers in the cloak and reefer trade, and to recommend a method of permanent adjustment to the next meeting of the General Executive Board.

5) If Local No. 1 complies with the above orders, all members of that Local as well as members of Local No. 17 (Reefer Makers) shall be allowed until final disposition of the question, to work in cloak and reefer shops without transfers.

SOME IMPORTANT DECISIONS The General Executive Board decided: To begin a general movement in our industries for week work and the eight hour day.

To continue the organizing campaign in

Cleveland and call shop strikes where necessary for the purpose of enforcing union conditions.

To renew the movement for better working conditions and union recognition in the waist, skirt and dress industry of Chicago.

To indorse the demands on their employers of Local No. 52 of Los Angeles.

To refer to President Schlesinger the advisability of visiting St. Louis for the purpose of going into the question of the workers' demands on the local employers, and backing them, if necessary.

A committee from the Philadelphia Joint Board requested that Vice-President Amdur return to that city and resume charge over local affairs. In the name of their Joint Board and the membership of its affiliated locals they ask the General Executive Board to use its influence in that direction.

After

a warm discussion during which it was proved convincingly that Brother Amdur's return to the cloakmakers of Philadelphia was absolutely necessary, Brother Amdur acceded to the request.

Vice-President Metz agreed to take over the duties of general organizer in Montreal in place of Brother Amdur. The General Executive Board felt gratified at the fact, as by a consensus of opinion Brother Metz was believed best filled for the work at Montreal.

Agreed to restore to the Boston locals the autonomy of which the Philadelphia convention had deprived them.

President Schlesinger was given full power to appoint an Italian-speaking general organizer, in view of the fact that in every center of our industry Italian workers are employed alongside of other workers and it is necessary to organize them.

In regard to the subject matter touched on in Secretary Baroff's report, as to the attitude of President Samuel Gompers of the American Federation of Labor to the Jewish-American unions, it was decided to issue a statement, which we shall publish in the next issue of the "Ladies' Garment Worker."

THE DREAMER

A dreamer is frequently a correct precursor of the future, but he does not feel like waiting for it. That which nature needs thousands of years to accomplish he wants to see achieved during his lifetime.-Lessing.

Report of Secretary Ab. Baroff

To the General Executive Board

During the last few months I paid two visits to Philadelphia. One visit was on April 30th, for a mass meeting of farewell to Brother Amdur, who had resigned as manager of the Cloakmakers' Union of that city. My second visit was on the occasion of the opening of the Unity House of Local No. 15, the Waist and Dressmakers' Union.

Our Local No. 15 is one of our best locals, conducting its business in a splendid manner. The local has accumulated a substantial treasury. It has a library at headquarters of more than 1,000 books. A recent picnic brought them in about $500 profit, which was contributed towards the library and the Unity House.

The Unity House idea in Local No. 15 will be a great success. At the opening of the house there were about 250 members, and they all expressed gratitude and satisfaction with the work of the union. They are raising a fund now to buy the house. I hope that the other locals of our International will follow the example of our sister local No. 15.

While I was in Boston the question of autonomy for the locals was again raised. All the locals, with the exception of Local No. 12, have gotten used to the present arrangement and they do not want to take chances on going back to the old chaotic state. But some of the active members of Local No. 12, Pressers, are very insistent on getting their autonomy back, and it seems to me that it will be necessary for the International to grant their request.

I went to Boston in June to settle a strike in one of the largest raincoat shops, Jacobson's. Eighty of his workers, members of Local No. 7, ceased working, insisting that the foreman of the shop be sent down. The Executive Board of Local No. 7 had not endorsed the strike, but the workers refused to go back, and their organizer Henry D. Cohen, and later, Brother Snyder, were unable to settle the controversy. The manufacturer demanded that before taking up the grievance against the foreman, the workers must return to work. After confering with Mr. Jacobson, the manufacturer, and Mr. Lichtenstein, the president of the association, for a couple of hours, I proved

to them that it would be to the benefit of the concern that he be removed from his position and placed as a worker in the shop. The manufacturer agreed to my proposition and the workers returned to work the next day.

I was also called to Boston recently on the question of Local No. 7, Raincoat Makers' Union. Their agreement with the manufacturers' association expired, and prior to my coming they had a number of conferences with the manufacturers for the renewal of the agreement. Among their demands was an increase of 20 per cent. The manufacturer claimed that they were paying more for labor than the New York manufacturers, and they stubbornly refused to increase the wages. The workers decided that they would call a general strike, if the increase was not granted. I had the matter postponed and proceeded to Boston. At a conference with the employers' association, at which a committee of workers from the Raincoat Makers' Union was present, I finally succeeded in adjusting the matter, after long and difficult negotiations. The manufacturers granted the workers a 15 per cent. increase.

The workers, at a meeting the same evening, expressed gratitude and satisfaction with the aid rendered by the General Office in adjusting the dispute promptly, and cheered the International Union.

I also attended a shop meeting of a certain firm controlled by Local No. 49, at which the jurisdiction question bewteen the Skirtmakers' Union and the Waist and Dressmakers' Union, was taken up, and it was arranged to have one meeting a month of members of Locals 12, 24 and 49, when all questions of the three locals shall be discussed and decided. My opinion is that if Brother Schlesinger were to visit Boston he could adjust this matter.

Of the meetings I have attended during the time, I may mention the installation meeting of Local No. 82, New York Examiners, Squarers and Bushlers' Union, and a few meetings of the Executive Board of Local No. 25. I also installed their newly

elected Executive Board.

I attended an Executive Board meeting of the Raincoat Makers' Union, Local No. 20. The question of military waterproof garments and the attitude of some of the employers who are under the impression that no strike can be called in shops where government work is made, is still of some concern to the local. I advised them and promised that the International would try to get in touch with the authorities in Washington and see to it that their grievances are taken up and adjusted.

Recently I have adjusted a personal trouble in Local No. 6, Embroidery Workers' Union. Owing to the dull season the local decided to dispense with the service of one of their paid officers, and a disagreement arose as to whether the manager or his assistant should be retained. I called the Executive Board and a committee of fifteen before me. They agreed to abide by my decision, and after hearing the views of both sides I rendered a decision, part of which was as follows:

Taking into consideration the fact that the by-laws adopted by your local give your Executive Board power to appoint paid officers, dispense with their services and enforce such discipline as is absolutely necessary for the maintenance of the organization, I sustain fully the decision of your Board in this matter, (that Manager Weiss should be retained).

I do not believe that it is proper to hold election for officers now. The right of voting for officers through ballot was adopted by our union in order to give every member an opportunity to take part in the elections. But now in the dull season, it is impossible to get the members to participate in elections, and it would be highly unfair to deprive them of their privilege.

Considering, furthermore, that the agreement with the Manufacturers' Association will expire soon; that conferences with the manufacturers about revising or renewing the agreement are to take place in the near future; and being that Brother Weiss did attend to all the association shop until now, and that he is fully acquainted with the workings of the agreement in these shops, we recommend that elections for new officers shall be called by your local by the end of October or during the month of November.

I urge on all the parties concerned to unite for one cause-the protection of the interests of your members.

The decision was accepted by both sides, with thanks for the interest we had taken in their affair.

I visited Local No. 90, Private Dressmakers' Union. This local is anxious to

begin an organizing campaign at the same time as local No. 80, Ladies' Tailors' Union. I installed their newly elected Executive Board and promised that their request would be taken up at this meeting of the Board.

There are over 10,000 women employed at private dressmaking in New York and there are a few big shops. A general movement in the two industries for improving conditions and strengthening the organization would build up a strong union in the private dressmaking industry.

The corset workers' local of New Haven complains that since Brother Pierce left Connecticut there is no one to look after them and that their organization is suffering by reason of this fact. I arranged a meeting and sent Brother Elmer Rosenberg there. Brother Rosenberg informed me that the local needs organizing assistance, more so because it is necessary to bring the Italian workers of that trade in New Haven into the union fold.

The condition of the Bridgeport corset workers' local has lately improved considerably, both as regards their membership and the influence on the local industry. A long slack season has affected these organizations very unfavorably during the earlier months of the current year, but work in the shops has resumed its normal course, and the active members of the locals are endeavoring to put life into the organization. Some one ought to visit the corset workers' locals regularly at their meetings. Locals No. 33 has on more than one occasion requested such assistance from the General Office, and we have tried our best to comply with the request.

We heard from our Local No. 43 of Worcester, Mass., that Brother Rubin, their secretary and business agent, was leaving for Russia, and that his successor is not able to serve in the capacity of business agent. They therefore ask that an International organizer should visit them once a week and try to help them build up their union. While in Boston I made arrangements with Brother Snyder to visit Worcester for this purpose.

At the last quarterly meeting a committee was appointed to work on the question of the label. Since then I have repeatedly reeeived letters from individuals and organizations asking us to advise them where they can obtain garments with the union label.

I suggest that the Board instruct the committee to take up this matter.

According to Brother S. J. Kaufman, manager of the Cincinnati locals, conditions in Cincinnati have improved remarkably since the last strike, and the existence of a permanent organization in that city is now practically assured. Of course, the locals are still weak financially. But they have already exerted enough influence in the shops during this season to force the employers to pay them satisfactory wages. given the young organization a considerable prestige, and the more active members are elated over their prospects for the future. The local controls practically the entire trade in the city, except for the two shops which were left unsettled after the strike.

This has

Our St. Louis organization is also making considerable strides, judging from the reports of General Organizer, Brother Ben Gilbert, in that city. The St. Louis cloakmakers are working out demands to their employers, and there is a genuine sentiment there for an aggressive campaign for higher wages and better working conditions. Such a movement would have an impression on the employers, who do not appear willing to face a repetition of the struggle of 1913, which brought disastrous results to the more obstinate local manufacturers and the trade in general.

During last month the cutters of Toledo cloak shops organized into a local union and made demands upon their employers for improvements. Brother Pierce, stationed in Cleveland, was requested to proceed to Toledo and after a short stay there, he succeeded in settling the trouble to the full satisfaction of the cutters.

After Brother Pierce had left Baltimore, Miss Anna Neary of the staff of the American Federation of Labor, was assaigned by Secretary Frank Morrison to our Baltimore office, our office contributing a part of her salary. Baltimore has a big, miscellaneous industry, and an energetic organizing campaign would yield material results.

Our official journal, the "Ladies' Garment Worker," has undergone lately a number of changes both in its make-up and contents; changes of a decidedly favorable character, due chiefly to the efforts of President Schlesinger, who has been writing the editorials and looking after the various departments of the journal. Indeed, we have

noticed quite a perceptible change in the attitude of our readers towards the journal, and have gained several hundred subscribers during the last two months. But the increase of expenses voted by you at the last meeting for the purpose of placing a business manager for the journal to improve the circulation and secure advertising matter, has proved quite useless. There has not been the slightest improvement in this direction.

Regarding our auditing department-from reports I have received from secretaries of locals, I understand that the audits made by our department at present, while covering to a certain extent the needs of the locals, are not made completely and thoroughly. It is not the fault of the auditor, but is due to the fact that our department is still very small to do the work in a more exhaustive manner, which would require at least the trebling of our present expenditure for this work from $3,500 to at least $10,000. In my opinion the work of the auditing department is very important. During the last three years our locals have saved thousands of dollars in auditing bills, having their books audited solely by our auditors.

I would therefore recommend that the General Executive Board authorize the Secretary-Treasurer of the International to take up with the locals the question of annual compensation for the services rendered by our auditing department to them. It would at once relieve us from carrying the full burden of this department, and would also enable us to enlarge its force, and extend it to all the locals that have not been receiving its benefits heretofore.

Another matter is the subject of initiation fees. You will recall that Vice-President Schoolman was authorized at the last meeting of the G. E. B. at Cincinnati, to submit a resolution on this matter. I am heartily in favor of this resolution, which is as follows:

"WHEREAS, the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union keeps control of the assessments and dues paid out by the members of the respective locals through a system of stamps which serve as receipts to the members for the money paid in; and

"WHEREAS, this system has proved to be an efficient mode on the part of the International of having knowledge of and being able to control the finances of the respective locals, and

"WHEREAS, the initiation fees, as col

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