Lisa wanted to know about union activity in New York, and Max's involvment.
IMAGE: Max (seated at left) and his fellow workers
LISA: Lisa, interviewing her grandfather, Max When you moved to New York, and you were working in the garment district, were you very involved in the union? What union did you belong to?
MAX: Max, interviewed by Lisa or talking with other family members The International Ladies Garments Worker's Union.
LISA: Do you remember what local?
MAX: Twenty-two. How could I forget?
We can infer from these few words, How could I forget?, that the union was very important to Max. And yet:
LISA: Were you politically active at all in the union?
MAX: No, no I didn't have no time to be political, I worked. I had to make a living for six people.
LISA: Did you ever go out on strike?
MAX: No, when I became a member, the strike element was out of style. Every three or four years we had to make a new agreement... and the trade was organized so well, so tight, that we never expected a strike. The only thing that was expected before the strike – before the agreement expired – was to get together with both sides, sit down and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, till you get an agreement. Just like you see in front of your eyes with the paper strike. Everybody knows that we need a union, and everybody knows that the union is made for both sides, to curb the hunger strike, the bosses would like to have everything for themselves, and on the other hand, the labor leaders, they want to have for themselves. So there was never a real threat about union, because they knew that before the strike, before the agreement expired, the both sides made an appointment, met in a certain hotel, sat down and they talked, and talked, and talked until they reached an agreement.
Max's narrative spans a very long time period.
MAX: That was the golden years, already! That wasn't 1914, or 1918, it was later in the years, in your times already. That's why we have a union, and we get certain benefits from the union, and... we are what we are!
Long-ago, now hazy, golden memories? Perhaps. We see signs Max had a cooperative, we can all win together attitude. He recalled his ILGWU membership with great affection, not for the battles fought and won, but for his comraderie with his co-workers.
IMAGE: Sweatshop in garment district, New York City Image is blank
/19/ Sachar, p. 330
Lisa turns to the bigger picture and paints a picture of labor conditions in the U.S. at the time.
NARRATOR: Lisa, backgrounding/commenting. The conditions of the cities were deplorable, brought on by a combination of the speed of industrialization and lack of careful planning. The development of unions was a direct result of poverty and exploitation of the immigrants pouring into the United States from Eastern and Southern Europe. It was an inevitable solution for both manufacturers and workers, and enabled them to set standards of working conditions and wages that would keep both sides happy. In 1910, the year of Max's arrival in America, the garment workers of New York and Chicago struck and won the right to collective bargaining.
Lisa specifically highlights successes of Max's union, the ILGWU, and the role of its significant Jewish membership.
Lisa: By 1924 the ILGWU was fairly established. The Jewish workers, most of whom had arrived with a skill, constituted 64% of the ILGWU membership. As late as the 1940's they made up 75% of Dressmakers Local #22, Max's local. /19/ They were all from the same area of Europe, spoke the same language, and all had similar dreams and aspirations. It was not difficult then to establish a unified front; it was more a matter of making yearly decisions about wages. The workers felt relatively secure that they would always have a job within the industry, which, by virtue of the union, had to remain benevolent towards its workers.