Today in labor history in 1900 the International Ladies Garment Workers Union was founded in New York City by seven local unions, with a few thousand members between them. The union grew rapidly in the next few years but began to stagnate as the conservative leadership favored the interests of skilled workers, such as cutters. This did not sit well with the majority of immigrant workers, particularly Jewish workers with a background in Bundist activities in Tsarist Russia, or with Polish and Italian workers, many of whom had strong socialist and anarchist leanings. It was one of the first U.S. unions to have a primarily female membership, and a key player in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s. The ILGWU had a sudden upsurge in membership that came as the result of successful mass strikes in New York City.
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