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Aliotto, Marie (audio interview #3 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the final interview conducted with Marie Aliotto as part of a series on the Chicago Women's Local (275). The interview was conducted by Kris Feichtinger, in cooperation with the Feminist History Research Project in Los Angeles. The details of the recording session are unknown. TOPICS - early attitudes towards ACWA and Local 275; career with ACWA and Local 275; Social and Athletic Club; friendships and social activities; working conditions and shop environment; Local 39 and Local 270; Clara Leon; Rose Falk; Sophie Kolbash; Local 275 Dramatic Club, Choir, and Bowling League; and employment experiences at Shapiro's and Progress Tailoring Company;job skills; wages; work ethic; clothing manufacturing; C;B; Shane & Company; Progress Tailoring Company; Shapiro's; ACWA organizing drive of 1919 and her decision to join the union; ACWA employment office and unemployment insurance; 10/30/1974
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- File: lhgwmaliotto7.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-3:18)... The first shop she worked in (Progress Tailoring Company) employed 350 people. The workers were very close and treated each other like family. She liked to sing while she worked and often initiated singing among her co-workers. The majority of workers were young and active in the Social and Athletic Club. In addition to sponsoring sporting tournaments, the club organized a dance once a month. When Progress Tailoring Company moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, Aliotto went to work for C.B. Shane & Company, which was a small shop with a familial work environment. The environment was different at Hart, Schaffner & Marx, which was a substantially larger company. (3:18-5:24)... Two months after she began working at Hart, Schaffner & Marx, Aliotto was sent to the National Convention as a delegate of Local 275. A few of her co-workers complained about her status as a delegate since she had only worked at the shop for a couple of months. A member of Local 275 informed these people that Aliotto was active in the union and was entitled to attend the convention. She found this criticism amusing since most people never went to ACWA meetings or ever visited the ACWA union office. She, however, devoted her life to the ACWA. (5:24-12:08)... When Alliotto first joined the union, she was a member of Local 39. She went to shop meetings after work, but as soon as she made her presence known to the Business Agent and the shop chairman, she left the meeting so that she could get to her night job at the movie theater. When she went to work at Progress Tailoring Company, she was recruited by Sophie Kolbash into Local 275. The shop chairman did not have an issue with her transferring from Local 39 to Local 275. Many people thought that the "ladies local was a joke in those days." She was not very interested in the union until after the ACWA union building was constructed. At that time, she began frequenting the gymnasium and got acquainted with Clara Leon and other women from Local 275. Previous to meeting Leon, Aliotto had never gone to any meetings at Local 275 because she heard that a "bunch of old maids" attended the meetings. She comments on the division of workers in Local 39 and Local 270, indicating that most women were not told about Local 275. (12:08-15:16)... The business agent of Local 39 tried to convince Aliotto to return to the Local, promising her a position on the Executive Board, expecting that her presence would help recruit more women to Local 39. Clara Leon also pressured other Locals to "give the girls a break" and offer them better positions in the Local. Aliotto was very close with Leon and Rose Falk, and felt that leaving Local 275 would be like abandoning their partnership. (15:16-17:15)... Until Local 275 "started rolling the ball," members of the Local often attended meetings and events sponsored by the WTUL. The local recruited Judy Ryerson to act as their teacher for the Dramatic Club and to teach gym classes. In addition to these activities, Local 275 started a mixed bowling league. Over time, enough women became interested in bowling that a women's bowling league was started. Each team was named after a certain activity, such as the "Gym Team" or the "Choir Team." (17:15-22:08)... Note: there is a skip in the recording The members of the Social and Athletic Club were young men and women employed at different garment shops in the city. The club was involved in sporting activities and socials on a regular basis. Although it was not affiliated with the ACWA, it did not begin until after the ACWA union hall was constructed. She was not active with the union until after the new building was constructed. She did not like the old union building and never attended meetings there. She did not have a lot of time for union activities early on in her career because she was working two jobs. When the new building was constructed, she began going to the gymnasium and meeting women from Local 275. Within a short time, she became a member of the Executive Board and the vice president of the Local and then the financial secretary, a position she kept until she retired in 1969. (22:08-29:36)... Note: there are skips in the recording in this segment Aliotto recounts her earlier work years and how she began working in the garment industry when she was fourteen years old, first at Shapiro's, which was bought by Progress Tailoring Company. She worked under the name of Marie Elaine so that she could work at such a young age and avoid going to continuation school. She did not start using her real name until Social Security came into effect. When her father died in 1920, the chairman at Progress Tailoring Company assigned her to a machine and taught her lining making. Aliotto discusses her friendship with Rose Falk and Clara Leon, at which time she asks that the recording be turned off. End of tape. File: lhgwmaliotto8.mp3 (0:00-5:56)... Aliotto went from making $6.50/week at a book bindery to $10/week at Shapiro's. In addition to liningmaking, she learned from a friend how to make buttonholes. During her years in the garment industry, she mainly worked on men's coats. She describes the different operations in which she worked, indicating that the only parts of the coat that she did not work on were sleeves, pockets, and canvassbasting. (5:56-11:12)... Pocketmaking and sewing sleeves on coats were considered good jobs because of the skill involved in these tasks. She enjoyed liningmaking because the work was easy and had the potential to make good money. She describes herself as a hard worker and a perfectionist at her job. She worked at an "overall shop" for a brief time, explaining that this was an unpleasant experience because the quality of work was poor and she was asked to work below her standards. The term "overall" was used to refer to shops that produced low-quality clothing. C.B. Shane produced quality men's topcoats and overcoats. Her boss at C.B. Shane designed and patented the "Season Skipper." Whenever the coat was manufactured by other companies, Aliotto's boss received royalties. (11:12-12:55)... Aliotto went to work at Shapiro's in the latter part of 1918. She had worked there for about four months when Progress Tailoring Company bought Shapiro's and took over the floors of the building in which the two shops were located. She joined the union in 1919 and around the same time, Progress Tailoring Company moved to a bigger building located on Troop and Harrison. (12:55-13:57)... Aliotto enjoyed working in the garment industry. It was not until she got older that working became a chore. When she first started working at the book bindery, it was something different to do. She did not have to work at the time because her father was still alive and able to support the family without her income. (13:57-15:12)... When Aliotto started working for Progress Tailoring Company the shop was partly organized by the ACWA. It was not a closed shop. In 1919, the ACWA went on a large scale organizing campaign and organizers told the employers they had to join the union. At the time, Aliotto did not know anything about the union. She joined because her mother told her to follow the direction of her two close friends who also worked at Progress Tailoring Company. She believes that she paid .90 cents to join the union and .70 cents a month in union dues. (15:12-16:19)... Aliotto comments on her earlier statement that she was a devil when she was younger. She liked to have fun when she worked and enjoyed the people she worked with. Her favorite thing to do at that time was to sing. She sang while she worked and was a soprano in the choir. (16:19-24:53)... Aliotto discusses the move of Progress Tailoring Company during a May Day celebration some time during the Depression. Because of her involvement with the ACWA, she was one of the first workers at Progress Tailoring Company to be hired at C.B. Shane & Company. When it went out of business she went to work at Hart, Schaffner & Marx. People who found themselves out of work as a result of these shop closures registered at the ACWA Employment Office and received $50 dollars in unemployment insurance. People received unemployment payments from the ACWA until the federal government assumed this responsibility. End of tape.
- SUBJECT BIO - Marie Aliotto, an activist in the Chicago Women's Local (275) of the ACWA started working in the garment industry when she was only fifteen years old. She joined the union during the major organizing drive in 1919 and eventually switched to the Women's Local in the late 1920s, and almost immediately assumed a series of leadership posts. Born and raised in a multiethnic neighborhood, Aliotto became the sole source of her family after her father's death. Until her health began to suffer, for almost eight years she worked a second job at a movie house. She never married and continued to support and care for her mother. The union and the Women's Local became the focus of her life, particularly after the ACWA built a new hall which included a gymnasium. She remained active even after retirement in 1965. Aliotto's oral history was conducted in Chicago by Kris Feichtinger, in cooperation with the Feminist History Research Project of Los Angeles. It was part of a larger series of interviews with women active in the Chicago Women's Local (275). INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the final interview conducted with Marie Aliotto as part of a series on the Chicago Women's Local (275). The interview was conducted by Kris Feichtinger, in cooperation with the Feminist History Research Project in Los Angeles. The details of the recording session are unknown. TOPICS - early attitudes towards ACWA and Local 275; career with ACWA and Local 275; Social and Athletic Club; friendships and social activities; working conditions and shop environment; Local 39 and Local 270; Clara Leon; Rose Falk; Sophie Kolbash; Local 275 Dramatic Club, Choir, and Bowling League; and employment experiences at Shapiro's and Progress Tailoring Company;job skills; wages; work ethic; clothing manufacturing; C;B; Shane & Company; Progress Tailoring Company; Shapiro's; ACWA organizing drive of 1919 and her decision to join the union; ACWA employment office and unemployment insurance;
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