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[joint interview], Rose Priola Falk and Agnes Budilovsky (audio interview #1 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the first of two joint interviews with Falk and Budilovsky conducted at the ACWA union hall. TOPICS - organization and purpose of Local 275; gender discrimination in ACWA; unequal distribution of worker's compensation benefits; gender relations; working and shop conditions; family background; strikes and picketing; and Local 275's contribution to the war effort during WWI;gender relations; working conditions; job responsibilities; work force demographics; Clara Leon; Sarah Rozner; union politics; nature of the Locals; Local 275; and activism among women employed in the garment industry; 9/5/1974
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- SUBJECT BIO - Note: Two interviews were conducted jointly with Falk and Budilovsky, ACWA activists in Chicago. Their narrator biographies can be found in their individual narrator pages. INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the first of two joint interviews with Falk and Budilovsky conducted at the ACWA union hall. TOPICS - organization and purpose of Local 275; gender discrimination in ACWA; unequal distribution of worker's compensation benefits; gender relations; working and shop conditions; family background; strikes and picketing; and Local 275's contribution to the war effort during WWI;gender relations; working conditions; job responsibilities; work force demographics; Clara Leon; Sarah Rozner; union politics; nature of the Locals; Local 275; and activism among women employed in the garment industry;
- File: lhgwfalkandbud1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-4:54)... When Falk joined Local 275, she became the recording secretary and treasurer and eventually the president. The Local was organized by Sarah Rozner to guarantee that "women got the same rights and the same privileges as the men because women were always in second place." One specific area of inequality occurred in the distribution of worker's compensation funds. Even though women paid the same amount of union dues as men, sick leave payments disproportionally favored men because they were considered the heads of their families. As a member of the Joint Board, Budilovsky addressed this issue on several occasions only to be told that women received less compensation because they stayed home more than men. An equitable resolution of this issue did not occur until more women began working in the garment industry and got "riled" up about the inequalities that existed in the ACWA. (4:54-10:30)... Falk and Budilovsky explain how Locals were governed and the process by which local issues were identified and presented to the Joint Board. Locals were divided among different ethnic groups or by job skills. Both Budilovsky and Falk were members of Local 144, the Pants Maker Local, until Falk switched to Local 275. The membership in Local 275 was never high because the Local did not encourage or pressure women to leave their locals because this would have been viewed negatively by the other Locals. But women did switch on their own accord and even if women were not members of 275 they participated in Local 275 activities. In fact, Budilovsky was active in Local 275 even though she was not officially a member. Every year, Local 275 held dinners to raise funds to send delegates to the national conventions. (10:30-17:13)... The Joint Board and the other locals must have accepted Local 275 or else they would not have granted them a charter. The women in the union, and Local 275 in particular, were invaluable to the ACWA. Local 275 was the first to have a gymnasium, a choir, a dramatic club, and dancing lessons for members to enjoy. Whenever the ACWA asked people to volunteer their time during elections, women from Local 275 went to congressional districts and worked all night without any compensation. Falk notes: "we women have paid the price for everything all the way down the line." They dedicated themselves to the union because they felt they were fighting for a cause even if they played second fiddle to the men. Falk remembers business agents picking her up at 5:00 a.m. to report to the picket line during strikes. When she reported to work late, her male co-workers called her a "dope" because picketing for the union caused her to lose money on the job. Still, she was active because she wanted to improve her working conditions and like so many others, she was a martyr to the cause stating, "no progress has ever been made unless a few people have to suffer for it." They digress regarding a television program about the labor movement and Eugene V. Debs. Budilovsky remembers when a special train took mourners from Chicago to Debs' burial place in Indiana. (17:13-20:31)... The ACWA started in Chicago and women were the first ones to walk out of the garment shops. Many of the people on the Executive Board were originally from Chicago. Budilovsky started working in the garment industry in 1913 when she was fourteen years old. She remembers participating in the 1915 strike even though she did not know the word "union" or understand how it could benefit her working conditions. When a union organizer explained unionism to her she felt that joining the union would be a good idea. At the time of the strike she was doing independent contract work. Falk remembers when her sister picketed during a 1910 strike at Hart, Schaffner & Marx even though she did not work for the company. (20:31-23:33)... Falk's mother immigrated to the US from Italy when she was fourteen years old. She worked as a finisher and was often visited by union organizers while working in the shop. Whenever a strike was called, her mother sent Falk and her older sister out to participate in the picket lines. Both Budilovsky and Falk remember seeing women coming home with piles of clothing stacked on their heads. It was a common practice for women to finish their work at home like both of their mothers did. As a result, Falk and Budilovsky learned how to sew at a very early age. Both of their mothers were widows and worked hard to support the family. When they turned fourteen, Budilovsky and Falk were happy to go to work because they wanted to help their mothers. (23:33-27:29)... Budilovsky and Falk describe the working conditions in "sweat shops." Smaller pants factories often moved their operations overnight to avoid being organized by the union. Falk worked for Hart, Schaffner & Marx, which was a union shop and conditions were not as bad. Budilovsky worked for an independent contract shop that also was unionized. Her employer treated the workers fairly and even allowed her to leave the shop twice during her workday to go home and nurse her baby. Early on in their careers, they worked sixty hours a week, Monday through Saturday and occasionally on Sundays. Their hours were eventually reduced to forty and then thirty-six hours a week. During WWI, however, their hours increased once again in order to keep up with wartime contracts. (27:29-28:32)... During WWI, women from Local 275 made bandages for the Red Cross at the Palmer Mansion in Chicago. Eventually, the local created its own Red Cross unit in the local building because of the large number of women in the union involved with the war effort. End of tape. File: lhgwfalkandbud2.mp3 (0:00-1:56)... Since Budilovsky's parents and later her brother owned a small tavern that was frequently patronized by many of the men she worked with, her male co-workers treated her well in the shop and she was highly regarded. She returns to a discussion of the 1915 strike and the fear of unemployment. The shop owner reassured his workers that there was nothing they could do until Banner and Progress negotiated a contract with the union. Falk says that it was typical for smaller shops to sign union contracts after larger shops negotiated contracts. (1:56-4:37)... Other than an occasional outburst by an employee with a political agenda, Falk did not experience any difficulty with her co-workers at Hart, Schaffner & Marx. She began working there in 1922 when she was fifteen years old. Initially, she worked as a "flunky," keeping track of the work flow from one department to another and running errands for the women in the shop. She was not allowed to operate a sewing machine until she turned sixteen. Her life was pretty easy while she was employed at Hart, Schaffner & Marx on account of her experience running errands on the shop floor and her sister's role as assistant chairlady. (4:37-5:49)... Falk notes that Hart, Schaffner & Marx employed an equal number of men and women. Men also worked as operators and often did better work than some of the women. She talks about the skill of pocketmaking. She mainly focused on buttonholemaking and other skills, but never worked on pockets. (5:49-9:04)... Budilovsky and Falk speak very highly of Clara Leon, citing her as an inspiration to the women in Local 275. Although Leon was a single mother of two children, she dedicated her life to the union and took care of the women like a mother would of her children. When Leon died, Falk mourned Leon as if she was a member of her own family. She was very close with Leon and they were inseparable friends for forty years. (9:04-13:06)... Budilovsky notes that it was more difficult to organize women in the past because women were more timid and did not "come forward to the front." Falk believes that women became more active in the union under Clara Leon's leadership. Budilovsky talks about her politics and how her ideals influenced both her and her husband's activism. For the most part, active women like Budilovsky and Falk were the exception to the rule although there were several active women in Local 144. Falk also talks about the women who walked out of Hart, Schaffner & Marx. (13:06-16:54)... Budilovsky talks about their business agent's efforts to organize the shop where she worked. Although there was competition between Locals located on the north and west sides of the city, they continued to work together for the purpose of improving the union, wages, working conditions. (16:54-18:00)... Falk and Budilovsky ask about Sarah Rozner's $500 contribution to start a union scholarship fund in California, noting that they had an ongoing scholarship program for at least ten years in the Chicago area. [Note: Falk also asks if the interview is being conducted for the ACWA archives, at which point the tape is paused.] (18:00-22:36)... Budilovsky and Falk talk about the different Locals in Chicago. Almost all of the ethnic Locals were Coat Makers, except for Local 144, which was Pants Makers. Eventually, the ethnic locals were eliminated. The majority of women who joined Local 275 were from the various Coat Maker Locals. Falk talks about her transition from Local 144 to Local 275. She notes how membership in ACWA dwindled from 40,000 to 9,000. When Clara Leon died, Local 275 was terminated. She does not believe this would have occurred if Leon remained living. (22:36-23:40)... Local 275 was active in projects coordinated by Jane Addams and Hull House. They also were constantly involved in WTUL activities and many of Local 275's teachers were from and paid by the WTUL. Local 275 was involved with the political movements and "everything else" in the city until the local was closed. (23:40-26:59)... The ratio of coat makers to pants makers in Local 275 was 3:1. As a result, the coat makers required more representation. Even though the majority of the members were coat makers, the pants makers were the ones who got things started with the local. Falk describes the differences in the leadership abilities between Clara Leon and Sarah Rozner, noting that Rozner did not last very long as a business agent because of her personality and the way she approached matters. End of tape.
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