The struggles of New Haven’s garment workers, on display in the atrium at City Hall, drew comparisons to the struggles immigrants and laundry workers face here today.
“We can turn to garment workers for inspiration,” said U.S. Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro, pictured. “We need to make sure their struggles were not in vain.”
The Greater New Haven Labor History Association’s Garment Workers exhibit was formally kicked off Monday. The goal of the exhibit, said Bob Proto, president of the Greater New Haven Central Labor Council, is for “folks to understand the courage that it took to raise the standards… The more we understand the more we understand the troubles of today.”
The exhibit looks into the history of garment workers and their struggles to unionize and demand better working conditions. This picture from the exhibit depicts what the D and I Shirt Company Factory looked like. Click here for more information about the exhibit, which previously was on display at the Ethnic Heritage Center
Joan Cavanagh is the archivist at the Labor History Association, which put together the exhibit. She said she was “proud to be a part of a community that stands strong” and then likened current immigrants in the city to the garment workers in the early 1900s. “The people working are immigrant workers, they stood strong to make it possible for their children just as the immigrants of today are doing with theirs.”
Two women stood alongside the exhibit brandishing a large green banner with the words “no human being is illegal” painted across it.
Proto, pictured with DeLauro, said union battles still need to be fought. Proto is also vice-president of UNITE HERE, an international hotel, restaurant and laundry workers union, and the president of the Federation of University Employees at Yale. He said UNITE HERE is concentrating on New England Linen, a company that allegedly keeps its workers in sub-par conditions and is using scare tactics to dissuade any union activity.
“We’re going to put them under a microscope,” he said.
Nick Aiello, pictured with Cavanagh, is president of the Labor History Association. He worked in a shirt factory in New Haven when he was young and his seven sisters worked in textile factories as well. “This exhibit is the past but i’m trying to bring it into the future,” he said. Aiello said his goal is to open a labor history museum.
What is the intended message of the exhibit? “We don’t give up, we stay the course,” said Proto.
“We don’t get there alone, my friends,” said DeLauro, who referred to fighting for workers rights as “one of the most important battles.”
“We get there on the shoulders of others.”
The Union Membership Should Vote Proto Out Of Office In The Next Election. He Is A Sellout, He Talks About Union Rights On One Hand And Is In Bed
With The Corporatist!! Hey Proto I Know Where You Got The Statement We Don't Give Up We Stay The Course You Got That Statement From The War Lord You Surported Over Ned Lamont King Bush Puppet Joe Liebreman. Wake Proto Is Noting More But A Carpet Bagger And Judas Who Will Sell You Out Like He Did To Ned Lamont!!!