Max Zaritsky (April 15, 1885 – May 10, 1959) was Belarusian-born

Jewish-American American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are Americans, American citizens who are Jews, Jewish, whether by Jewish culture, culture, ethnicity, or Judaism, religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of Am ...

labor leader who founded and led the United Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union (UHCMW), in addition to co-founding both the American Labor Party and

Liberal Party of New York The Liberal Party of New York is a political party in New York (state), New York. Its political platform, platform supports a standard set of socially liberal policies, including abortion rights, increased spending on education, and universal h ...

Background

Max Zaritsky was born on April 15, 1885 in Petrikov, in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. His father was a rabbi. In 1906, he immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at age 21.

Career

Union leadership

Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union

In 1906, Zaritsky got a job in a hat and cap factory in Boston. In 1911, he became general secretary of the millinery union. In 1919, he became president of the Cloth Hat, Cap and Millinery Workers Union. In 1934, the Cloth Hat, Cap and Millinery Workers Union merged with the United Hatters of North America union to form the United Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union (UHCMW), headquartered in New York, and in 1936, Zaritsky became its president. Zaritsky ousted Communist influence from his union.

CIO

In 1935,

United Mine Workers The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American Labor history of the United States, labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing work ...

president

John L. Lewis John Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was an American leader of Labor unions in the United States, organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers, United Mine Workers of America (UMW) from 1920 to 1960. ...

formed a "more militant" group within the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

(AFL) called the Committee for Industrial Organizations. He formed it with Zaritsky of UHCMW,

Sidney Hillman Sidney Hillman (March 23, 1887 – July 10, 1946) was an American labor leader. He was the head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and in marshaling labor ...

, head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America; David Dubinsky, President of the ILGWU, Thomas McMahon, head of the United Textile Workers; John Sheridan of the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Union; and Harvey Fremming of the Oil Workers Union. They announced the committee's creation on November 9, 1935, and in 1938, after the AFL revoked the charters of these members, they formed the Congress for Industrial Organizations (CIO). Zaritsky opposed the CIO's break from the AFL and, with David Dubinsky, initiated a "peace move" between the nascent CIO and its AFL parent.

Political leadership

American Labor Party

In 1936, Zaritsky had joined Sidney Hillman and John L. Lewis in forming the Labor Non-Partisan League (LNPL), which formed the basis of the American Labor Party (ALP), making Zaritsky an ALP co-founder.

Liberal Party of New York

In 1944, Zaritsky co-founded the ALP split-off of the

Later life

In 1950, Zaritsky retired after 39 years as a labor union official, succeeded by Alex Rose, also a co-founder of the ALP and Liberal Party. Zaritsky also lectured to colleges and schools on labor issues.

Personal life and death

Zaritsky married Sophie Pilavin. Zaritsky was a Labor Zionist and served as treasurer of the National Labor Committee for Palestine as well as the National Committee for a Leon Blum Colony in Palestine (whose patrons included Herbert H. Lehman, Fiorello H. LaGuardia,

Abraham Cahan Abraham "Abe" Cahan (Yiddish: אַבֿרהם קאַהאַן; July 7, 1860 – August 31, 1951) was a Lithuanian-born American socialist newspaper editor, novelist, and politician. Cahan was one of the founders of ''The Forward'' (), an American Y ...

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

Felix Frankfurter Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, advocating judicial restraint. Born in Vienna, Frankfurter im ...

, Israel Goldstein, Julian W. Mack, Edward F. McGrady, and Robert F. Wagner and whose officers included Rose Schneiderman and Lucy Lang). Max Zaritsky died age 74 on May 10, 1959, in Boston, Massachusetts, after leaving New York City two years earlier. He is buried in the Mount Carmel Cemetery of Queens, New York. In 1991, '' American Heritage'' magazine carried a reminiscence of Zaritsky.

Legacy

At his death in 1959, ''The New York Times'' declared, "Although his union had only 40,000 members, Mr. Zaritsky won a position of major influence in labor's affairs." His papers are at the

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References

External sources

Tamiment Library
Guide to the Max Zaritsky Papers TAM.006
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Max Zaritsky at fifty; the story of an aggressive labor leadership * * Images: *
Historic Images
Max Zaritsky (1936) {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaritsky, Max 1885 births 1959 deaths Belarusian Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent American Labor Party politicians Liberal Party of New York politicians American trade union leaders Jewish American people in New York (state) politics Trade unionists from New York (state) Jewish American trade unionists UNITE HERE Activists from New York City American milliners American Zionists Labor Zionists