Louis Hollander

Louis Hollander (1893–1980) was a labor union leader who co-founded the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America union (ACW), the US portion of the World ORT, and the American Labor Party (ALP); served as state president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), and held several executive roles on the AFL–CIO political action committee; in 1948 he joined the CIO mainstream to oppose the candidacy of Henry A. Wallace in favor of incumbent Harry S. Truman.

Background Louis Hollander was born in Wadowice, Russian Empire (now Poland). At age ten, he immigrated with his family to the US and settled in New York. He did not finish his high school diploma until 1913 because he had gone to work early in life and had to work nights to complete that education.

In 1947, he stood with the CIO in opposing passage of the Taft–Hartley Act. Like other union leaders, he shared his personal housing situation: I live in a house of 102 tenants with little children ... in itself, a little town – 102 tenants in that house will be more than 1,000 people. And with the little children, a shortage of oil or any other heating material, we will still find some – Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday – cold, icy, without any heat without any hot water. And I called up my wife just before I can here [and asked], "Will there be any heat today? Otherwise, I won't come home at all." She went down to the super. He said, there will not be any heat, but that is only because of the shortage of housing. Some of the owners know that the tenants can't help themselves; they must accept, because even the board of health would help out if the owner would be interested. I am bringing out this little incident that we are going through now to indicate to you the acuteness of the problem that we are £acing. who was the ALP candidate for U.S. Congress in the 14th District of New York (Brooklyn) against Abraham J. Multer.

In 1953, the ACWA and CIO celebrated the start of Hollander's eleventh term as manager of the New York joint board of the ACWA. They marked a triple anniversary: 40 years as ACWA executive, 20 years as chief spokesman for the ACWA in New York City, and 10 years as president of the New York State CIO. To mark the occasion, he gave an overview of "labor's evolution": "It was an industrial jungle," Mr. Hollander recalls, "with no semblance of civilization. The worker had no security and it was crazy even to suggest that he had any rights. I started as an apprentice at $3 a week and even the most skilled tailors and cutters had to be satisfied with $9 to $15 a week." The 1913 strike was a nightmare," in which the workers were reduced to baking potatoes in the stove at their union hall and depending on charity. The strike settlement provided for a basic work week for fifty-four hours and a $1 wage increase, but many employers ignored its terms. The New York workers demanded a reform in their parent union, which they held responsible for many of their difficulties. When they could not get the kind of changes they wanted, they joined with clothing workers from other areas in forming the Amalgamated. Mr. Hollander was designated its first international organizer. Today the relations between the Amalgamated and the clothing manufacturers. have become so tranquil that the industry has not had a major strike here since the union struck against the "runaway" shop in 1932. Both sides proceed on the theory that the welfare of employers and workers are interdependent and that neither group.can prosper without the other.

Louis Hollander died age 87 on January 3, 1980, at The Workmen's Circle Home for the Aged in the Bronx.

Recognition Page One Award of the Newspaper Guild of New York