The Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) was a

labor union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

representing workers in two related industries in the United States. The union was founded in 1976, when the

Textile Workers Union of America The Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA) was an industrial unionism, industrial union of textile workers established through the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1939 and merged with the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America to becom ...

merged with the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. The small American Federation of Hosiery Workers also joined. On foundation, the new union had about 500,000 members. Like both its predecessors, it affiliated to the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

. In 1979, the United Shoe Workers of America merged in, followed in 1983 by the United Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union. The union successfully campaigned to unionize workers at J.P. Stevens & Co. However, the industry was in sharp decline in the United States, and by 1995, the union had only 129,000 members. That year, it merged with the

International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) was a labor union for employees in the women's clothing industry in the United States. It was one of the largest unions in the country, one of the first to have a primarily female membersh ...

, to form the

Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees The Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE, often stylized UNITE!) was a labor union in the United States clothing industry from 1995-2004. History UNITE-ILGWU/ACTWU Merger UNITE was formed in 1995 as a merger between t ...

Presidents

:1976: Murray Finley :1986: Jack Sheinkman

References

{{Authority control Defunct trade unions in the United States Textile and clothing trade unions Trade unions established in 1976 Trade unions disestablished in 1995