Freda Katz Casso worked on ladies' shoes and slippers in New York shops between 1932 and 1960, but was working in Chicago for several months in 1934 when a general strike of slipper workers was broken. Casso worked in AFL Boot and Shoe Workers Union Local 54 with a Rank and File Committee to take control of the union from mobsters. In 1937 the Rank and File moved the local into the CIO's United Shoe Workers and launched a city-wide organizing campaign. Casso served as the unpaid secretary of the local for many years as a member of the General Executive Board of Joint Council 13 from 1937 to 1952 and as shop chairwoman until her retirement. The United Shoe Workers of New York City eventually merged with the Amalgamated Clothing Workers.
From the guide to the Freda Casso Papers and Photographs, 1937-1952, (Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive)
