Files of Solomon Barkin, Director of Research, include his papers from the period when he was office manager. Subjects are so varied that listing them might mislead a researcher. The file contains both raw date and finished reports. Some of these reports are tabulations of data compiled by Barkin, while others are memoranda or narrative reports. His reports to the Executive Council were not supported with as much detail as reports to outside groups, such as congressional committees.

Some of the papers in the file pre-date the formation of TWOC and TWUA, including transcripts of the National War Labor Board hearings in 1918 and 1919, the Passaic strike of 1926-1927, and the Philadelphia strike of 1930. There are briefs prepared and presented by Barkin before the Wage and Hour Board in support of a forty cent per hour minimum wage in the textile industry. Statistics on wages, production, and profits in many branches of the industry are filed with counter briefs and statements presented by employers in the wage and hour hearings of 1938.

Although wages, production figures, and profits, are the major content of the statistics, they also include information about manpower and material shortages during World War II. They also include information on competitive prices of raw materials and finished goods from foreign sources; projected market conditions; worker productivity; accidents and compensation; insurance and retirement; membership figures and organizing data.

Other than wage and contract negotiations, research information was used for educational purposes, for organizing campaigns, press releases, for the use of government agencies, or to support the union's positions and policies on tariffs, war production, and foreign policy.