International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union - Other Social and Cultural Efforts

Other Social and Cultural Efforts

The ILGWU turned its attention to social and cultural matters at an early stage in its history, establishing a resort for union workers, a university that offered courses in union leadership skills, citizenship and the English language, and a health clinic. The Union also sponsored sports teams and musical groups, while union members staged the topical musical Pins and Needles (1937-40). The ILGWU, following the lead of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, also developed housing for its members. The ILGWU, for a time, also owned radio stations in New York City (WFDR-FM 104.3, now WAXQ), Los Angeles (KFMV 94.7, now KTWV), and Chattanooga, Tennessee (WVUN 100.7, now WUSY).

Dubinsky was also active in the Jewish Labor Committee, which the ILGWU, along with the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, the Workmen's Circle and other groups, helped establish in 1934 to respond to Hitler's rise to power and to defend the rights of European Jewry. After the war the ILGWU and other groups affiliated with the JLC helped arrange for adoptions of orphaned children who had survived the war. The JLC also played a part in the work of the AFL-CIO's Civil Rights Department.