Category: Labor

DAVY, WILLIAM MCKINLEY (9 June 1895-5 Sept. 1973) headed the CLEVELAND NEWSPAPER GUILD for its first 30 years and became a leader in the local councils of LABOR. The son of a Welsh coal miner in Tuscarawas County, he was born in Midvale, O. Davy himself quit school in the 6th grade to enter the mines but soon left to come to Cleveland in 1912.

DI LEONE, PETER. Jr. (2 Feb. 1908-16 Sept. 1998) was a lawyer, a labor expert, and served as an advocate of free speech while president of the CITY CLUB OF CLEVELAND.

The FAWICK-AIRFLEX STRIKE, 8 Mar.-6 June 1949, was called by Local 735 of the United Electrical Workers (UEW), an allegedly left-wing CIO union. At issue was the union's failure to sign non-communist affidavits as required by the Taft-Hartley Act.

The GARMENT WORKERS' STRIKE OF 1911, planned and executed by the INTERNATIONAL LADIES GARMENT WORKERS UNION, began on 6 June when 4,000 workers took to the streets to picket for improved working conditions in their factories.

The GREATER CLEVELAND LABOR HISTORY SOCIETY was founded in 1982 by Jean Tussey and David Knapp as a resource center and museum to educate today's workers about the daily life of the ordinary workingman in the past. Located in the Sidney Hillman Building at 2227 Payne Ave., the society collected historic records, books, photographs, and memorabilia from various sources, including material from the UAW, Intl.

IAFELICE, JAMES (3 Jan. 1913-8 Mar. 1998), head of District 54 of the International Association of Machinists, was one of Cleveland's most influential labor leaders. He was born in Cleveland to Concillia "Mary" (Bonavia) and Dominic Iafelice. He grew up in the Murray Hill neighborhood and dropped out of high school to help support his family during the Depression.

The INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD (IWW), dedicated to the abolition of capitalism, was active in Depression-era Cleveland largely through the efforts of Frank Cedervall, chief organizer for the Metal & Machinery Workers Industrial Union and his brother, Tor, the branch secretary.

The INTERNATIONAL ASSN. OF MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE WORKERS began in 1888 in Atlanta, GA. The Cleveland IAM was first chartered in Jan. 1890 as Lodge 83, which organized machinists who worked in local shops.

The INTERNATIONAL LADIES GARMENT WORKERS UNION (ILGWU) struggled to gain a foothold in Cleveland during the first 2 decades of the 20th century. Toward the end of the 19th century, poor working conditions and low wages caused some workers to form small seasonal unions, such as the Cleveland Pressers' Protective Union of 1899.

The INTERNATIONAL LADIES' GARMENT WORKERS' UNION AGREEMENT OF 1918-19 laid the basis for collective bargaining in the Cleveland cloak and suit trade. Agitation for the agreement began a few years after an unsuccessful strike in 1911. This general strike caused Cleveland manufacturing firms to grant certain concessions to their employees.

The KNIGHTS OF LABOR DISTRICT ASSEMBLY NO. 47 was an early local labor coalition that preceded the trade union bodies later formed by the AFL and the CIO. The assembly had its origin in the Industrial Council of 1874 but soon became affiliated with the Knights of Labor as the Trades & Labor Assembly No. 47. Within a decade some 50 locals constituted District No.

LABOR. The concept of a working class, distinct from farmers, small proprietors and professionals, or men of wealth, was of little use in the early years of the city's history; in these years an egalitarianism based on cheap land was reinforced by a relatively equal apportionment of the rigors of frontier life.

The LITTLE STEEL STRIKE began on 26 May 1937 when members of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee voted to strike REPUBLIC STEEL, Youngstown Sheet & Tube, and Inland Steel, the major independent steel producers known as "Little Steel." Although Ohio governor Martin Davey tried to initiate negotiations between the contending parties, the companies refused to recognize the

The MECHANICS EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA (MESA) represented workers in the machine-tool, automotive, and steel industries as an independent union until it affiliated with the CIO in 1954. Founded in Detroit in 1933 for tool-and-die makers, MESA organized in Flint and Pontiac and then moved to Toledo and Cleveland, sites of automotive factories and job shops.

The METROHEALTH SYSTEM STRIKE OF 1989 began on March 27, 1989 after negotiations between The MetroHealth System (See: CUYAHOGA COUNTY HOSPITAL SYSTEM) and Local 3350 of the American Federation o

The NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF POSTAL AND FEDERAL EMPLOYEES (NAPFE) is a national industrial labor union, headquartered in Washington, DC. The Greater Cleveland area, covering postal zipcode zones 440 and 441, is represented by Local 604. NAPFE was founded in Lookout Mountain, TN, in 1913 by representatives of postal employees from 13 states. Its purpose was to eliminate racial discrimination in the postal service.