LaborArts


Photograph

Item no. 30157
1930s
New York
Occupation: Manufacturing: garment
Collection: Cornell University Kheel Center

Luigi Antonini sympathizes with a foot sore picketer supporting Local 89, the Italian Dressmaker’s Union  striking for overtime pay.

The large majority of local unions of the ILGWU embraced all ethnic and religious groups. However, some tended to attract members of a single nationality or ethnic group. Local 89, the Dressmakers Union, was predominantly Italian. Luigi Antonini, its Manager, became the first Vice-President under President David Dubinsky in 1934. Antonini was an organizer of the Italian-American Labor Council and a respected leader of the Liberal Party as well. Here he acknowledges a weary picketer on the line with her co-workers and the Local's male leaders.

See this image in the exhibit The ILGWU: Social Unionism in Action

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View other items in the thematic set 1930s