International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America. District 65

District 65, United Automobile Workers (UAW) began as the Wholesale Dry Goods Workers Union organized in September 1933 by Arthur Osman and a group of Jewish workers at a dry goods warehouse on New York City's Lower East Side.

Originally affiliated with the United Hebrew Trades, the union obtained a charter from the American Federation of Labor (AFL) early in 1935 to become Federal Local 19932, Wholesale Dry Good Employees Union. Between 1937-1942, Local 65 was at the center of a group of left-wing locals in New York City that organized in September, 1948, forming a joint council, the Distributive Trade Council of New York, shortly thereafter. During the early 1950's District 65 was investigated for alleged radicalism and some of its leaders were ordered to appear before the U.S. House Un-American Activites Committee. In 1954 District 65's former parent international, now called the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), readmitted those locals that had seceded in 1948, including District 65. During the 1940's District 65 expanded its organizing campaigns to encompass white collar workers in publishing and universities. District 65 merged with the UAW in 1979. In 1994, the Union went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy (probably the first labor union to do so)-- its locals became independent locals affiliated with the UAW.

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