The American Federation of Hosiery Workers (AFHW) was one of the earliest successful industrial unions. From the election of its first paid president in 1928 until its merger in 1965 with the Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA) it was a force in the movement toward industrial unionism which culminated in the formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
Although local unions of hosiery workers had existed as early as 1909, the American Federation of Hosiery Workers did not organize as an international union until 1913. Under its original name of American Federation of Full Fashioned Hosiery Workers in 1923, it affiliated with the United Textile Workers in the American Federation of Labor, Meanwhile, competition within the industry had become so intense, and labor-management relations had deteriorated so badly, that peace within the industry became the prime goal for workers and employers. It was the main editorial theme of the union's publication, The Hosiery Worker. In the spring of 1929, Hosiery president Gustave Geiges called for a general conference between hosiery manufacturers and union employes.
When Emil Rieve became president in April of that year, one of his first actions was to call a special convention to ratify a national labor agreement between the AFHW and an association of firms employing union workers in the industry. The agreement took effect on September first. On September sixteenth the National Association of Hosiery Manufacturers was formed by thirty-two firms within the industry. Paul Abelson, who had been the Impartial Chairman for the fur industry, was named arbitrator under the National Labor Agreement between hosiery workers and employers.
The National Labor Agreement stipulated that the arbitrator had final and binding power of decision in all disputes over inequities or interpretation of the contract relative to wages, working conditions, or benefits. It provided that, if there should be a decrease in the earnings of the industry, or if the cost of production should decrease, the National Association of Hosiery Manufacturers could submit a request for revision of wage rates. That this provision was invoked by the employers from time to time is apparent in decisions in the arbitration file. An article of February 2, 1939, in The Hosiery Worker, reveals that arbitrator William M. Leiserson denied a general wage cut requested by the employers, but he granted certain wage adjustments.
After passage of the Norris-LaGuardia Act and the National Industrial Recovery Act, 1932 and 1933 respectively, efforts at union organization intensified everywhere. The problem of organizing industrial unions caused dissension within the American Federation of Labor during the mid-thirties. A committee on industrial organization was formed in 1936 within the AFL. This committee recommended that charters be given to industrial unions, but that those unions must not clash with the jurisdiction of craft unions in the same plant.
A minority report, signed by Charles P. Howard, David Dubinsky, Frank B. Powers, John L. Lewis, A. A. Myrup, and J. C. Lewis, recommended that unrestricted charters be given. In that year the Hosiery Workers severed relations with the United Textile Workers of the AFL and became part of the Textile Workers Organizing Committee (TWOC) in the CIO. President Emil Rieve was named Director.
In 1939 Rieve resigned as Hosiery president to accept the presidency of the Textile Workers Union of America. On June 25 of that year, charter number One was issued by TWUA to the Hosiery Workers and accepted by their National Executive Board.
The Hosiery Workers remained affiliated with the Textile Workers until their 1947 convention decided against paying an increase in per capita tax. TWUA President, Rieve, expressed reluctance and regret, but said he had no choice other than to expel his old union. For their part, the Hosiery Workers expressed no rancor, saying that the funds were needed for their own organizing work.
The Hosiery Workers asked the CIO for a direct charter, but it was refused. When the AFL gave it a direct charter in 1951, it was over the opposition of the United Textile Workers, who claimed jurisdiction in the hosiery industry. After the merger of the AFL and CIO in 1953 the Hosiery Workers continued as an international union. In 1965, however, beset by many difficulties within the industry, and a declining membership, they called a special convention to approve a merger with the Textile Workers Union.
Throughout its existence the Hosiery Workers Union followed a progressive course, not only in the negotiation of wage contracts and working conditions, but also in research, education, and in such welfare programs as retirement pensions, death benefits, health insurance, and the establishment of a low rent housing project in Philadelphia in 1933, which operated under the name of The Juniata Park Housing Corporation and was called the Carl Mackley Houses. It was one of the first - if not the first - low rent housing projects sponsored by the government. The Carl Mackley Nursery School, a non-profit private school, was operated by the union for the use of the children of the Carl Mackley Houses and of the community nearby.
Since a large percentage of the Hosiery Workers membership was women, it is to be expected that this organization would be concerned with women's rights and equality. Yet many times the union found itself objecting to equal rights legislation on the grounds that the proposed bills were ill-advised and poorly constructed. The union's position on this subject probably is best stated by the correspondence of Research Director William Rafsky in the Research Files from 1944 to 1953.
Authority within the union was based on the convention of delegates elected by the local branches. The constitution could be amended by the convention, which also elected the officers of the international union. Interim authority between conventions rested with the National Executive Committee. Local unions, called branches by the Hosiery Workers, received their charters from the international union. District councils were created by the international union to coordinate activities of the branches within each district.
