Afterman, Albert.

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Albert Afterman was a longtime rank-and-file activist in the Amalgamated Ladies' Garment Cutters' Union, Local 10 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. He first ran as a convention delegate in 1944, and thereafter ran for various union offices, including manager in 1953 and local president in 1959 and 1974. Local 10 has a reputation for being a strategic local in the affairs of the international union. It has provided three international presidents, David Dubinsky (1932-1966), Mortimer Julian (1907-1908), Louis Stulberg (1966-1975). The local has also witnessed many conflicts between administration groups and rank-and-file groups.

In the 1920s the ILGWU was wracked by bitter conflict between the Communists and the "right" (mainly supporters of the Socialist Party). While the Communists and their supporters succeeded in gaining control of a number of locals and the New York Joint Board, they never commanded the same degree of support in Local 10. The high point of Communist support came in 1924 when they succeeded in winning a vote against a dues increase in the local. However, Dubinsky, then manager of the local, managed to have that vote reversed shortly afterward.

In 1929-1930, the Communists attempted to form a Needle Trades Industrial Union affiliated with the Trade Union Unity League (1929-1935). They met with little success and evidently returned to the ILGWU by 1934.

By the late 1930s, the Communist supported Rank and File slate could still count on the support of 25-30% of Local 10 members. However, control remained firmly in the hands of the administration group. The 1939 elections provided what proved to be the last seriously contested election for quite some time, when the ILGWU leadership ousted former ally Samuel Pearlmutter from the managership after a series of allegations of corruption in the local. The winning candidate, Isadore Nagler, though known as a staunch anti-Communist, was supported by the Rank and File group (they also supported Stulberg for assistant manager, but fielded their own slate for other offices).

Thereafter, Rank and File support steadily declined. In 1944 several Rank and File candidates were ruled off the ballot by the administration and several Rank and File leaders were subsequently suspended from the union. The results of the election, and the suspensions, were unsuccessfully challenged by the oppositionists. By the mid-1950s support for the Rank and File slate dipped below 10% in the local elections. During that period the opposition caucus concentrated its fire against undemocratic practices in the union, and aside from basic economic issues, consistently called for the use of voting machines, outside supervision of elections, and mailing rights for opposition slates.

In the 1960s, changes were beginning to take place in the local membership which would eventually change the complexion of local politics. In 1961, the cutters' local was accused of discriminating against black applicants. During this period, however, blacks, and especially Latinos, became an important part of Local 10 membership.

In the 1968 elections a new force entered the contest for control of the union. The Independent Cutters, made up of younger members, made many of the same demands for union democracy as the Rank and File slate, but also concentrated on the deteriorating status of cutters compared to other trades. Some of the Independent Cutters' candidates were denied places on the ballot, and those who did run were denied slate status. They later appealed unsuccessfully to the International and to the Department of Labor.

In 1971 and 1974 the younger Independent Cutters and the older Rank and File forces ran a joint slate; in 1971 receiving over 35% of the vote.

From the guide to the Albert Afterman Papers, 1929-1974, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Guide to the Albert Afterman Collection on Local 10 Elections, 1929-1974 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Amalgamated Ladies' Garment Cutters' Union. corporateBody
associatedWith International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
New York (N.Y.)
Subject
Clothing workers
Occupation
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