BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Scope and Content Note: Came to the United States in 1921 at age 10. Father was a member of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers (ACW). Attended high school and one year of college at night while working as a furrier during the day. Joined Local 45 of the International Fur Workers Union (IFWU) in 1925. Became president of the International Fur and Leather Workers Union (IFLWU) in 1954 and shortly after merged it with the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America (AMC&BW). Became a business agent four years after joining Local 45. Fur industry was well organized in Chicago at that time.

1926 FUR WORKERS STRIKE
Scope and Content Note: Chicago settled a little before New York. Very significant strike - established 40-hour week and higher wage levels. New York influenced the rest of the country because it was the largest center of the fur industry.

DETERIORATION OF THE UNION AND OF CONDITIONS AFTER THE 1926 STRIKE
Scope and Content Note: Left (Communist) - Right (Socialist) split in the union in New York sapped the union's strength. American Federation of Labor (AFL) President William Green inaugurated an investigation of the union in New York. Ben Gold and other strike leaders were on the defensive. The Chicago local remained in Right Wing hands and was not immediately affected by the split.

MORE ON THE LEFT - RIGHT SPLIT IN THE IFWU
Scope and Content Note: Feinglass did not at the time know what the fight was all about. A bureaucracy developed in Chicago. At one point, Feinglass rose at a meeting to oppose a position of the leadership and was physically attacked. This “forced” him into being a leader of the Left. The union then split into two unions - the IFWU (AFL) and the Needle Trades Workers Industrial Union (NTWIU) (Left Wing). Feinglass was elected secretary-treasurer of the Fur Division of the NTWIU, and Gold was elected president.

REUNION OF THE FUR WORKERS UNIONS
Scope and Content Note: In 1935, Feinglass and Gold went to the IFWU convention in Toronto. They were not permitted to speak to the convention, but a unity resolution was passed which resulted in reunion. Feinglass became a vice-president of the IFWU in 1937.

MERGER OF THE IFWU AND THE NATIONAL LEATHER WORKERS ASSOCIATION (CIO)
Scope and Content Note: After the merger, Feinglass became district director of six midwestern states, and he and his staff organized 22,000 workers, mainly in leather. At times, his district was the largest in the union.

WHY THE FUR WORKERS FACTIONS UNITED IN 1935
Scope and Content Note: 1) The union had to be united before a real offensive against management could be launched. 2) Calmer heads on both sides began to clamor for unity. 3) The position of the Left - that is, to build an independent trade union movement - had changed.

IFWU JOINED THE CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS (CIO) IN 1935
Scope and Content Note: It was one of the first. Gave fifty thousand dollars to the Steel Workers Organizing Committee and to the United Automobile Workers, and thousands of dollars to the Farm Equipment Workers and the United Electrical Workers.

FUR WORKERS SOLIDARITY WITH WORKERS AROUND THE WORLD
Scope and Content Note: One hundred thousand fur-lined jerkins made for naval personnel during World War I. Gave millions of dollars to Red Cross for war relief. Many furriers volunteered for the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War and many died. Enviable record during World War II also.

FUR WORKERS EDUCATION PROGRAM
Scope and Content Note: Many activities - classes, discussions, music, sports, etc. “The union was a beehive of activity.” Union office was open until 11 p.m. and was always heavily populated. Most workers lived near the union office. Never had a dues checkoff. Shop chairmen collected dues at work.

FUR WORKERS DONATION DURING YOM KIPPUR WAR AND THE ATTACK ON GREEKS IN CYPRUS
Scope and Content Note: Without regard to nationality, Jewish, Greek, and other nationalities within the union contributed.

REASONS FOR LOYALTY TO THE UNION
Scope and Content Note: Immigrants; the union lifted these workers out of sweatshop conditions. Always above the conditions of other needle trades industries. Had 35-hour week since 1933. Average fur worker today makes twelve dollars an hour, twice that of ACW and International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) members. Industry much less seasonal than it used to be.

WHY THE IFWU DEVELOPED DIFFERENTLY THAN THE ILGWU AND THE ACW
Scope and Content Note: Militant leadership. Concentration of the industry. While ILGWU had some similar concentration, it became a big union quickly through the National Recovery Administration (NRA) Codes and did not have the same struggles as the Fur Workers. The fur industry was concentrated because of the need for proximity to the auction and the need to be close to other manufacturers dealing with a different fur product.

PHILIP FONER'S INTERPRETATION OF THE RIGHT SPLIT IN THE FUR AND LEATHER WORKERS UNION
Scope and Content Note: He exaggerated, but in the main, he is correct in assessing the Left Wing as having been less corrupt and more militant. Some people in the Right Wing did have good motives, but they took in corrupt elements in order to try to defeat Gold's strong following.

LEPKE - GURRAH, “MURDER INCORPORATED”
Scope and Content Note: Lepke (Louis Buchalter) and Gurrah (Jacob Shapiro) organized some of the big dressing shops into a protective association. One shop refused to join, and Lepke-Gurrah insisted the union strike that shop. The union refused, and Lepke-Gurrah assassinated the organizer involved. After the funeral, Feinglass went to the union office and found a stink bomb on every floor, and a “you're next” note under every door. Lepke-Gurrah then attacked the union office, killing a pretzel vendor and wounding several others. When word spread that gangsters were in the union office, 5,000 people came to the union and beat the gangsters, despite police attempts to prevent it.

1932 IFWU CONVENTION
Scope and Content Note: The leaders would not seat Feinglass but seated his alternate instead. AFL organizer Edward McGrady tried to get Feinglass to cross over to the Right Wing. There were fist fights and arrests. “That gave me a feeling that the Right Wing was totally corrupt; but I know since then that some of the people that were fighting in the Right Wing cause were decent people....” Even some Right Wingers were threatened and called “Commies” if they raised questions. Communism in the labor movement was used “to cover a multitude of sins.”

FEINGLASS AND THE COMMUNIST PARTY
Scope and Content Note: When he first became active in the union, he did not know the difference between “communism and rheumatism” but “they forced me into a position where I moved to the Left because (it supported) a cleaner administration.” He left the Communist Party in 1949 “because I could not agree with all of the things the Party represented.” “One of the things that bothered me was that once the Party is under attack and you leave it, you sound sort of like a rat. And I didn't want to leave it that way. I left it only when I became convinced that there were enough disagreements that compelled me to leave.”

FEINGLASS BROKE FROM LOCAL 45 IN 1932, WHEN IT WAS TAKEN OVER BY GANGSTERS
Scope and Content Note: He then brought in the NTWIU, and much of the membership of the local joined him. The gangsters were finally arrested for dope peddling, “and they offered to sell me the union.” Despite allegations in Foner's book, Local 45's Jack Mouchine was not a gangster.

ANECDOTE ABOUT THE EVANS FUR COMPANY ATTEMPT TO UNDERMINE NTWIU RECOGNITION
Scope and Content Note: This was a large shop with about 60 employees. Feinglass organized the shop and got a 35-hour week and some other improvements. In 1934, the owner called in seven workers from the Right Wing union (IFWU) for inventory while the NTWIU workers were on layoff. He then called upon the Labor Board (NIRA) to determine recognition; the seven, of course, chose the Right Wing union; the owner then signed an agreement with the Right Wing of Local 45. Feinglass declared a strike; there was an injunction and a hearing before a special board appointed by the Labor Board. John Fitzpatrick, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, was labor's representative on this three-man board, and he was the only one to vote in favor of the Right Wing union. It was appealed, and Feinglass' position was upheld. The company then quickly settled with NTWIU, and Evans, which is today the largest furrier in the nation, has had good relations with the union ever since.

THE AFL DID NOT ATTEMPT TO PREVENT THE UNITY ATTEMPT IN 1935
Scope and Content Note: Unity prevailed, and “a new era began.” “It was a period in history when unity was developing in all kinds of locals. It was before the CIO, so that was not a threat.” The membership wanted unity, and those leaders who did not want it were not supported.

MORE ON THE MERGER WITH THE NATIONAL LEATHER WORKERS ASSOCIATION
Scope and Content Note: The Leather Workers were making no progress. They had long strikes with no results. CIO President John L. Lewis wanted the Leather Workers to merge with somebody, and the IFWU was a natural.

ORGANIZING IN LEATHER
Scope and Content Note: Hired kids out of college, “and they really organized.” It was a difficult, decentralized industry. The industry has been severely hurt since then because of the decline of America's shoe industry. Greenbaum (Chicago and Milwaukee}, 2,500 employees; Trostel and Sons, 600 employees; etc., many of which have since gone out of business. Pfister and Vogel (Milwaukee) was never organized because of a successful paternalistic policy. Oak Leather Company (Cincinnati) had been organized by the AMC&BW but had poor working conditions. IFLWU raided Oak Leather and won 410 to 12. The same was true of the ACW's Rueping Leather Company (Fond du Lac, Wisconsin), which IFLWU won 500 to 10. Beat a company union in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, 600 to 2. Greenbaum in Milwaukee spent a million dollars trying to beat IFLWU. IFLWU was successful in leather because it was a national union concentrating on leather and because of its policy of not permitting perishable goods to be destroyed in a strike. Formerly, leather workers would walk out without saving the perishables. This saddled the employer with a heavy initial loss and thus, no motivation to settle the strike.

RECENT REVIVAL OF GARMENT LEATHER HAS NOT HELPED THE LEATHER INDUSTRY MUCH BECAUSE SHOE LEATHER IS THE BASIS OF THE INDUSTRY
Scope and Content Note: Importation of leather and leather shoes, plus the use of non-leather substitutes in shoes, has hurt the industry very much.

DIFFICULTY IN ORGANIZING LEATHER WORKERS
Scope and Content Note: Decentralized industry; small towns and some small plants. The industry's tradition of non-union. Had to organize by plant, not by company. Made no real organizing inroads until 1941. Original decentralization of the industry was caused by the need to be near tanbark and water. These geographic advantages became disadvantages once tanbark was eliminated from the manufacturing process.

FUR AND LEATHER INDUSTRY DID NOT RUN SOUTH VERY MUCH
Scope and Content Note: Some leather shops went South but no fur shops. Main recent problem in fur is immigrants, including many new arrivals from Greece.

WHY THE MERGER OF IFWU AND THE LEATHER WORKERS RESULTED IN A LOOSE AFFILIATION FOR THE FIRST SEVERAL YEARS
Scope and Content Note: To some extent, it was a trial period. Mainly it was to assure the leather workers their autonomy.

EXIT OF THE IFLWU FROM THE CIO
Scope and Content Note: CIO President Philip Murray liked the IFLWU and did not want to purge it from the CIO. He asked IFLWU to appoint someone other than its President, Ben Gold, declared Communist, to the CIO Executive Board. The union refused and withdrew from the CIO before expulsion because it did not want to honor the expulsion proceedings with its presence.

CIO COMMUNIST PURGE
Scope and Content Note: “The CIO lost a great deal of its power.” One CIO president later told Feinglass he regretted voting for expulsion because it took the interest and excitement out of the city and state Industrial Union Councils. “What was once a lively forum for labor became nothing.” The purge also resulted in a reduced militancy; the next natural step was to go into the AFL “and to adopt the policy of Meany.” The purge was a part of McCarthyism, an attempt to gain respectability. Hubert Humphrey once told Feinglass he had to redbait so people would not redbait him; the CIO purge was similar.

RAIDS AFTER THE PURGE
Scope and Content Note: The IFLWU beat back virtually all raids, but this gained nothing. Eight-month strike at Gloversville, New York, after which the Textile Workers Union of America (CIO) signed a backdoor agreement; the IFLWU finally had to tell its members to go back to work or they would lose their jobs. Steelworkers, AMC&BW, Textile Workers and others tried to raid the IFLWU. These raids increased the power of management, and wasted the union's strength and energy.

CONDITION OF THE IFLWU AND THE INDUSTRY IN THE EARLY 1950'S
Scope and Content Note: Tanneries were closing and substitute materials were being introduced. Fortunately, DuPont's new synthetic leather at the time turned into “a two million dollar fiasco.” People were also wearing sneakers and other non-leather shoes. Imports. Fur was also deteriorating. At one time, the industry used 50 million rabbits a year, but nobody wanted rabbits after 1947. The industry in New York became a single skin industry - mink - and the others closed up.

FUR INDUSTRY HAS REVIVED SOMEWHAT IN THE PAST TEN YEARS BECAUSE OF EXPORTS
Scope and Content Note: Industry also diversified. United States fur industry does one billion dollars business annually, with about one quarter of that in exports. A fur fair was established in New York.

FUR INDUSTRY'S “WILDLIFE CONSERVATION FUND”
Scope and Content Note: The fund explains to people that the fur industry is a necessary part of the ecological balance, since the expansion of civilization has meant less natural habitat for wildlife, and nature would kill these animals more painfully if man did not do it. For example, when red foxes in New York became undesirable for furs, nature developed a mange which almost wiped out the species. International agreements not to work on endangered species. “The fur industry makes a positive contribution to the economy and to conservation.” Examples why “trapping is an essential tool in conservation.” Furs, a renewable resource, were much more preferable than plastics or other petroleum-derived synthetics.

FEINGLASS' ASSESSMENT OF FONER'S THE FUR AND LEATHER WORKERS UNION
Scope and Content Note: It is not good history because it is not objective. It is too much black and white. It does contain a tremendous amount of factual information, however. It does present the case for the importance of the Left in the IFLWU, but it does not adequately present the position of the Right.

IFLWU MERGER WITH THE AMC&BW
Scope and Content Note: Harry Poole, an AMC&BW vice president, approached Feinglass shortly after his election as IFLWU president. Feinglass then met with Pat Gorman, AMC&BW secretary-treasurer, and it was “an instant love affair.” Because the AMC&BW had the old AFL leather workers (United Leather Workers International Union), it was the natural union for the IFLWU to merge with. Feinglass also had some preliminary merger discussions with Ralph Helstein, president of the United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA). Merger agreement was a good one because it guaranteed the fur and leather workers autonomy, had an escape clause, and gave Feinglass the right to put out a newspaper just for the fur and leather workers (he instead had a page in the Butcher Workman).

IFLWU PERSONNEL IN THE AMC&BW
Scope and Content Note: IFLWU brought 28 organizers into the AMC&BW and eventually, many assumed key positions. For example, Irving Stern is currently Director of District One (New York). They were very competent organizers and drew praise from Gorman.

WHY IFLWU MERGED WITH AMC&BW
Scope and Content Note: One reason was the raids the IFLWU was experiencing. Another was the union was independent, having left the CIO, and “we wanted to be part of the labor movement” in order to have greater bargaining power with the employers.

AFL PRESIDENT GEORGE MEANY'S HIT LIST
Scope and Content Note: Meany listed a number of alleged Communists who had to leave the IFLWU in order to get his approval of the merger. The people on the list were all in the New York Joint Council, and many would have left anyway. They left voluntarily for the good of the union.

BEN GOLD'S INDICTMENT
Scope and Content Note: He was indicted on the grounds that his signing of the Taft-Hartley non-communist affidavit was phony. He was indicted on three counts and found guilty of two. Labor leaders and other prominent people testified on Gold's behalf. United Steelworkers President David McDonald would have testified on Gold's behalf, but it would not have looked good since he had served on the committee that expelled the IFLWU on the grounds that Gold was a Communist. He was sentenced to three years in prison but the union appealed it to the Supreme Court and won. Gold then returned to work in the industry.

GOLD'S OPINION OF THE IFLWU-AMC&BW MERGER
Scope and Content Note: Ambivalent. He thought it important for the union to become an official part of the labor movement, but also felt the union should remain autonomous. Gold and Feinglass debated the issue before the New York Joint Council, “and I think the Joint Council generally agreed with me, not with him.”

IFLWU RANK AND FILE REACTION TO THE MERGER
Scope and Content Note: The rank and file reacted positively, except some leather workers in New England, where “they hated the Amalgamated.” This small New England group withdrew from the IFLWU and received a charter from the CIO. Today, they are decimated to a point where I am not sure we want to take over their problems. IFLWU had about 38,000 members at the time of the merger, after a peak of about 85,000. It was a good membership, however, because of the local autonomy. The IFLWU brought a treasury of one million dollars to the AMC&BW.

BEN GOLD
Scope and Content Note: Had some tremendous qualities. Great orator. A selfless man - never took expenses, had a low salary. A magnetic character. Failed in some areas, however. “He was more political than trade unionist.” “I fault him a great deal in the fur section of the industry; I fault him less in the organization efforts of the leather....” His being too political “had some impact on our ability to grow adequately.” Also, he had “an arrogance that comes with people who are politically important.” “He did service to the labor movement.” Very charismatic. On the whole, he contributed substantially to the labor movement.

WHY THE AMC&BW WANTED MERGER WITH THE IFLWU
Scope and Content Note: Meany's hit list did not develop until after the merger commitment had been made by both sides. The AMC&BW “recognized the kind of a contribution we could make.” They saw the capability of IFLWU organizers. AMC&BW was not winning raids against the IFLWU. Pat Gorman was not terrified of Communists. Gorman saw the value of getting young, capable people who would bring a spark to the AMC&BW.

GEORGE MEANY SENT IN A REPRESENTATIVE TO MAKE SURE THE FUR AND LEATHER WORKERS “WERE PURE”
Scope and Content Note: The representative “was so satisfied with the trade union behavior that he gave a most favorable report on us, and that ended the cloak and dagger business.”

STRUCTURE OF IFLWU AT THE TIME OF MERGER
Scope and Content Note: New York Joint Council had manufacturing workers. New York Joint Board had dressing and dyeing workers and other non-machine workers. Locals 2 and 3 were dressing locals; very wealthy. Chicago Joint Board. Districts and District Councils. Feinglass' District Four took in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri. District One was New England; Two was Pennsylvania; Three was split, having sole leather and part of Pennsylvania; also a Canadian District.

MONTREAL FUR WORKERS
Scope and Content Note: Montreal was kicked out a few years before merger because of its dictatorial leader. It returned after his death. Today, there are about 2,500 members in the locals - one shoe, one manufacturing and one dressing. They have the highest wages in Canada and were the first to get a 35-hour week. Workers in the dressing industry make thirty-five dollars an hour. An unskilled floor worker makes twenty-two dollars an hour. The manufacturers can afford to pay these high wages because it is piece work, and the relationship of the cost of labor to the cost of the skin is very low. High wages, therefore, have little effect on the final price of the garment.

MORE ON WHY MANUFACTURERS CAN AFFORD TO PAY HIGH WAGES TO FUR WORKERS
Scope and Content Note: Examples of the increase in the price of furs. The thirty-five dollars per hour is not an hourly wage but the average amount a fur worker can make doing piece work. New York City fur dressers are also paid very well.

MAX FEDERMAN, TORONTO
Scope and Content Note: His local was on the Right Wing side in the 1930's; expelled from the IFLWU, but maintained an independent charter from the AFL. “I wooed him and I brought him back into the union.” He is 80 years old and still an active trade unionist.

NEW YORK JOINT COUNCIL WAS PLACED IN RECEIVERSHIP AFTER THE MERGER BECAUSE OF MEANY'S HIT LIST
Scope and Content Note: Feinglass was the receiver. It was a friendly democratic receivership, installed “in order to give Meany a feeling that it was under the control of the Amalgamated, and they were guarding the purity of the trade union movement.” There was no reason for some of the names being on the hit list. Feinglass had a meeting to announce the hit list and he stated if anyone on the list did not want to quit his position, Feinglass would call off the merger. Feinglass was told later that someone from the Jewish Daily Forward created the list for Meany.

RELATIONSHIP OF IFLWU AND UPWA
Scope and Content Note: Friendly. UPWA President Ralph Helstein had been Feinglass' attorney in 1939 and had sought Feinglass' advice when offered the job as counsel for UPWA.

FAILURE OF 1956 UPWA - AMC&BW MERGER ATTEMPT
Scope and Content Note: Failed “partially because of Harry Poole's cloak and dagger business. Every day they discovered a new Communist there.” Also, “there was some jockeying for position.” Also, several members of the AMC&BW Executive Board were not enthusiastic about the merger. The retail sector of the AMC&BW “was afraid that its control would slip if a number of packinghouse workers came in.” UPWA's Tony Stephens was not all that helpful in some of his statements.

ALTHOUGH NOT REALLY A FACTOR IN UPWA, COMMUNISM WAS USED BY SOME AMC&BW PEOPLE TO THWART THE MERGER
Scope and Content Note: “I found the least Communism there of any place in the world.” “I found many things that I didn't like in a union that I thought was absolutely solid.”

GEORGE MEANY DID NOT OBJECT TO THE UPWA - AMC&BW MERGER IN 1968
Scope and Content Note: Meany and Helstein were friends. They had hip problems in common, and Helstein was on the AFL-CIO Executive Board.

FAILURE OF THE 1956 MERGER HAS A BAD EFFECT ON WORKERS IN THE PACKING INDUSTRY
Scope and Content Note: If the workers had been united “they could have fought off the 'New Breed' of packers that came in - Iowa Beef and Missouri Beef.” The “New Breed” of packers not only hurt the packing sector of the AMC&BW by knocking out the big packers, but they also hurt retail by the introduction of boxed beef.

WHY IT TOOK TWELVE MORE YEARS BEFORE FINALLY MERGING
Scope and Content Note: The effort/momentum had been set back.

1968 UPWA - AMC&BW MERGER
Scope and Content Note: Merger eventually occurred because it was essential “if we were going to save the packing industry.” Both unions were losing many members in packing. Because of UPWA membership losses, “they were prepared to take a much smaller package, and Amalgamated control was guaranteed.” UPWA actually ended up with less autonomy within the AMC&BW than IFLWU had been able to get. Although the leaders were not all that happy after merger - there was a vying for positions - the workers did gain from it. Helstein left the AMC&BW because of his health. They did not marry as equals.

FUR WORKERS IN NEW YORK CITY TODAY
Scope and Content Note: Just settled a contract for the 2,800 members, getting a forty-four dollar a week raise (for a 35-hour week) the first year and thirty-three dollars each of the two following years. “You can do a great deal in a union if you've got an educated membership.” Twenty-two hundred of the 2,800 members still turn out for meetings. Ninety percent of the membership voted in the last union election. Unfortunately, this is rare in the labor movement. A year ago, Feinglass spoke to a large group of local packinghouse leaders and found an appalling lack of knowledge of labor history.

AMC&BW MERGER WITH THE RETAIL CLERKS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION (RCIA)
Scope and Content Note: There had been fruitless talks for years. It seemed to occur rather suddenly because some of the issues which were previously stumbling blocks were finally resolved. Feinglass is critical of the merger because there was no escape clause built into it. On the whole, mergers are good “if the result of the merger is a more militant, a more progressive, a stronger union that can do more for the workers.” The creation of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) was good for the retail sector. Reasons for this merger 1) to straighten out jurisdictional problems; 2) increased strength; 3) unions in general are on the defensive and the Amalgamated definitely was on the defensive, especially, after the Iowa Beef strike; 4) Gorman's exit from Amalgamated leadership and the ascension to leadership of unqualified people.

IOWA BEEF PROCESSORS' STRIKE
Scope and Content Note: A very long and expensive strike finally settled without much improvement in the contract and also with scabs left in the plant. There was a big judgment against the union in which the company claimed the union let pigeons into the plant, thereby causing the destruction of a lot of meat.

AMC&BW - RCIA JURISDICTIONAL AGREEMENTS
Scope and Content Note: In the main, these agreements worked, but nothing is perfect.

MORE ON AMC&BW - RCIA MERGER
Scope and Content Note: It was a natural merger. The question is how the union will act on various important issues. So far, Feinglass is not prepared to make a judgment in regard to whether the UFCW is a more progressive union than its predecessors.

AMC&BW LOCAL AUTONOMY
Scope and Content Note: A fur worker today would say he/she belongs to the UFCW; that is, would identify with the international union. In general, AMC&BW local autonomy was a strength, not a weakness. Gorman could always get people to work out local differences.

AMC&BW IN CANADA
Scope and Content Note: The Amalgamated did not experience the same kind of pressure from Canadian nationalism that other unions experienced. There was a Canadian packinghouse union with more members than the Amalgamated. Because of chain stores, in retail there were ties between Canada and the United States which other unions did not have. The Amalgamated really did not have enough members in Canada to warrant a separate district until the merger with UPWA. Today the UFCW, with about 100,000 members, is one of the largest unions in Canada.

THERE WAS NOT MUCH FRICTION BETWEEN PACKING AND RETAIL WITHIN THE AMALGAMATED
Scope and Content Note: Matters were usually settled within the Executive Board. “There was a unity of purpose.” There were some sharp differences between packing and retail locals in some cities. This was due to jurisdictional problems and the greater militancy of the packinghouse locals.

MIDLAND JOINT COUNCIL
Scope and Content Note: A number of state councils which got together in an effort to counterbalance the greater power of the East within the Amalgamated. A New York City - Philadelphia coalition was usually strong enough to get its way within the union.

EXECUTIVE BOARD VACANCIES
Scope and Content Note: Usually filled from the same constituency. Individuals were usually selected by consensus of the Executive Board.

ABSENCE OF POLITICAL OPPOSITION WITHIN THE AMALGAMATED
Scope and Content Note: There was a major contest for president in 1972 when Clifton Caldwell challenged Joseph Belsky. There were a few other contests, but none serious. Once the Executive Board agreed on a candidate, it was very difficult to oppose that candidate. “You can't oppose somebody when the overwhelming muscle has agreed....”

AMC&BW CIVIL RIGHTS COMMITTEE
Scope and Content Note: Feinglass was chairman of the Civil Rights Committee at the 1960 convention, and the committee drew up a resolution to have a functioning civil rights committee between conventions. The resolution was approved unanimously. In order to get direction from the rank and file, the committee called civil rights conferences between conventions. Mostly they were held in the South. “We adopted a program, and...we did carry out program after program.” Pamphlets (“Now Is the Time,” “Cry for Justice,” etc.) were prepared for each convention but received much wider circulation. Examination of contracts, merging of segregated locals, handling of complaints. Often handled fair employment practices complaints before they became public. One thousand dollar civil rights award at each convention; given to Mayor Coleman Young of Detroit, Coretta King, Pat Gorman. Awards to locals which were “outstanding in civil rights.” Original purpose of the committee was internal education and internal action - to protect and defend the civil rights of the membership. A good, effective committee. Conferences were for educational purposes - speakers and workshops.

FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE
Scope and Content Note: Feinglass also chaired this committee. Purpose was to deal with international labor solidarity and also the question of peace. “It expressed itself against the war in Vietnam.” And it never went along with AF of L positions.

AMC&BW OPPOSITION TO THE WAR IN VIETNAM
Scope and Content Note: AMC&BW expressed opposition to the war quite early and contrary to the official AFL-CIO position. This was due mainly to Gorman's position as well as to the position of Feinglass, chair of the Foreign Policy Committee. Feinglass was the first labor leader in New York City to speak against the war, at a meeting at Manhattan Center in 1965. Gorman participated in “Labor for Peace” in Chicago in 1968, a meeting attended by 500 labor leaders. Big discussion at a 1967 AMC&BW Executive Board meeting. Feinglass and Gorman spoke against the war and several spoke in favor of it, but the vote supported the Feinglass/Gorman position. At the 1968 AFL-CIO convention, Feinglass was the only one from the AMC&BW delegation to speak against a resolution in support of President Lyndon Johnson's conduct of the war.^[1] On the vote, Gorman abstained, Feinglass voted against, and the rest voted for the resolution.

THE AMERICAN LABOR MOVEMENT AND THE QUESTION OF WAR
Scope and Content Note: The leadership of the American trade union movement has been pro-war but “is totally out of step with the membership.” They use jingoistic statements to force the membership to go along with them. “Meany was a cold warrior. I think Meany's policies on foreign policy were to the right of John Foster Dulles.” “He has done untold damage to the trade union movement of America for years to come.” Current AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland “is no better”; if anything, he is worse. Because the United States came out of World War II intact, the labor movement had it good in terms of getting good contracts. “In exchange for that....as Meany once said, '...We and the Communists are the only (trade union leaders in the world) that are loyal to our systems of government. And we are loyal to capitalism.'”

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CHANGES TODAY WHICH NECESSITATE CHANGES IN THE LABOR MOVEMENT
Scope and Content Note: Defeat of the labor law reform bill and the big push for a national right-to-work law indicates that management is no longer cooperating with labor. The decline of Amarica's competitive position and the rise of multi-national corporations mean “the trade union movement...must become much more militant, much more radical, much more decisive in its action; otherwise it's not going to prevail.” The decline of the United Mine Workers and the building trades are symptoms, as is the current trend of contractual givebacks. “Unless labor begins again to go back to the principles which they started with - that there is a class struggle - you'll see the decline of the American labor movement.”

STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE AMC&BW IN 1972
Scope and Content Note: “A rebellion of the young people.” Retirement at age 68 was instituted. Advisory Council formed to groom future vice presidents and to give younger people a voice. Women's Department grew out of pressure from women, “but it never really matured much in the early period.” The Health and Safety Department resulted from the Occupational Safety and Health Act. “These changes came, in most cases, as the result of bottom pressure.”

WOMEN'S COMMITTEE AND CIVIL RIGHTS COMMITTEE, 1976
Scope and Content Note: New President Harry Poole wanted to have a “Human Rights Committee” to cover both, but he did not name such a committee until the merger came. He kept stalling. That killed the functioning of the Civil Rights Committee.

GORMAN'S RETIREMENT
Scope and Content Note: Because of age; he was 84 years old. He mistakenly felt his replacement would be his alter ego. “I think that Gorman felt he was better off being Chairman of the Board with a contract for life....”

SELECTION OF SAM TALARICO AS SECRETARY-TREASURER IN 1976
Scope and Content Note: “Gorman claimed he did it at the request of Vice President Emmett Kelly, whose father had saved the union financially during hard times. Kelly “had an unusual share of power for a man who was just a head of a small local....” Events showed that Talarico was a poor selection.

ACCEPTANCE OF THE 1976 TICKET
Scope and Content Note: Harry Poole was selected as President. Publicly, no one challenged the choice of Talarico and Poole. Privately, there were many discussions with Gorman, but no one could change his mind.

WHY GORMAN WAS NEVER ELECTED TO THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF THE AFL-CIO
Scope and Content Note: Meany opposed it. He claimed his reason was because Gorman had supported the publisher of The Courier (New York City) who had solicited ads as “an AF of L paper.” The real reason was that Gorman “could have been a source of some minor opposition to Meany.” When AMC&BW leadership talked to Meany about getting Gorman on the Council, Meany would tell them to talk to the Nominating Committee, but the Nominating Committee would seek Meany's advice, and he would say “no.” The AMC&BW did run Gorman once (at the 1965 convention). Many unions wanted to support Gorman but could not because of various commitments.

MEANY'S POWER
Scope and Content Note: Derived mainly from his power to appoint committees - International Labor Organization, foreign trips, government committees, etc. He was a vindictive man and nobody wanted to cross him. He always had the support of the building trades.

MORE ON GEORGE MEANY
Scope and Content Note: Speaking to an audience of corporate leaders, Meany said, “You ought to support me because I support you. We support capitalism.”

AMALGAMATED GROWTH DURING THE 1950'S AND 1960'S
Scope and Content Note: The food industry was expanding. Also, retail contracts provided for expansion of the union into all new stores of a particular chain. The food industry was sound and growing, and there was therefore a certain amount of natural growth. The food industry was not subject to the problem of imports.

NEW AREAS OF ORGANIZING, 1950'S AND 1960'S
Scope and Content Note: Campbell's Soup, General Foods, Banquet Brand Foods. Joint pressure by the AMC&BW and the Teamsters on A & P led to organization of Banquet Brands. Coffee, tea, soup, fast foods. These were not all low-wage plants. Coffee, for instance, pays well. Much of the poultry industry moved South.

DECLINE OF PACKINGHOUSE MEMBERSHIP IN 1950'S AND 1960'S
Scope and Content Note: Automation, runaway shops, “New Breed” packers, modernization.

PAT GORMAN
Scope and Content Note: “...Had greatness in him.” An unusual labor leader - creative in writing, a poet, a philosopher, a cultured person. “I think Gorman was surrounded by a bad bunch of people, and they influenced him a lot.” Gorman made a mistake in trying to compromise all the differences in the union - hoodlums, decent people, left, right, and center. He “built a great organization.” He had persuasive ability. He was a great compromiser, which is both a strength and a weakness. “He was one of the great leaders in the American labor movement.” “He had a sense and feeling about the poor and the oppressed that made me love him.” In regard to employers, he felt you could get more with honey than with vinegar. This attitude was more successful than the abrasiveness of Jesse Prosten.

STATUS OF FUR AND LEATHER WORKERS TODAY
Scope and Content Note: Have a vice president (Bernard Woolis) and the Executive Vice President (Stephen Coyle) of the UFCW. Also, Vice President Irving Stern came from the ranks of the IFLWU. They will maintain a degree of autonomy. As a vice president of UFCW, Feinglass reported to no one, and no one questioned him about it. The membership of the Fur and Leather Department has declined considerably due to attrition. Eventually, the Shoe Department and the Fur and Leather Department will have to merge. The Fur and Leather Department contributes progressive thought within the UFCW. There are about 25,000 members in the Department, and about 10,000 - 12,000 of these are in fur. There has been some recent upward movement in the numbers of fur members and hopefully, the current organizing drive in New England amongst leather workers will be successful.

ASSESSMENT OF IFLWU MERGER WITH AMC&BW
Scope and Content Note: Hard to say if the members are better off today than they would be had there been no merger. The merger “gave us a chance to fight against employers rather than against each other.” Economic conditions of fur workers are very good. IFLWU contributed a lot of leadership to the Amalgamated. In leather, the wages and conditions have gone from below those of textile workers to well above. All credit cannot be given to the merger with the Amalgamated, but “it did not hurt us, and did us good.”

ASSESSMENT OF IFLWU IMPACT 0N AMC&BW - CIVIL RIGHTS AND FOREIGN POLICY
Scope and Content Note: Having the Fur and Leather Workers in the Amalgamated was very important for placing the Amalgamated in the forefront of civil rights and opposition to the war in Vietnam. “I think I strengthened Gorman's progressive hand against those who always tried to squeeze him the other way.” “The union (AMC&BW) with all its weaknesses was still a damn site better than nine-tenths of the unions in America.” The AMC&BW had “a freedom on a personal level to say and do almost anything you wanted, which other unions did not have.”

UPWA WAS SEEN AS A PROGRESSIVE ALLY FOR THE FUR AND LEATHER DEPARTMENT WHEN IT ENTERED THE AMC&BW
Scope and Content Note: “It did not work out to my satisfaction.” In the Executive Board of the UFCW, Feinglass was the only one to refuse to vote for endorsement of President Jimmy Carter's reelection. Prosten was absent, but Charles Hayes and the rest of the Packinghouse Department voted with the majority. The membership of the Packinghouse Department is militant and progressive - “I love the membership” - but the leadership failed to educate the membership in important things like labor history.

ASSESSMENT OF THE AMERICAN LABOR MOVEMENT TODAY
Scope and Content Note: “The labor movement in America today is a giant with feet of clay. The feet of clay are lack of education, lack of understanding.” The leadership is not in step with the rank and file. Young people, women, and minorities are ignored.