Sol Chick Chaikin (9 January 1918 – 1 April 1991) was an American

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

organizer. He served as president of the

International Ladies Garment Workers Union The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), whose members were employed in the Clothing#Gender differentiation, women's clothing industry, was once one of the largest trade union, labor unions in the United States, one of the firs ...

from 1975 until 1986. He earned a law degree from

Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and a number of adjunct faculty. Brookly ...

in 1940. He was a Vice President of the AFL-CIO, and a member of its Executive Council and of its Trade and International Affairs Committees. He was also deputy member of the Executive Committee of the

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) was an international trade union. It came into being on 7 December 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), and was dissolved on 31 October 2006 when ...

, and was a member of the U.S. delegation to the Belgrade and Madrid sessions of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.Sol C. Chaikin. Trade, Investment and Deindustrialization: Myth and Reality. ''Foreign Affairs'', Spring 1982 In his later life, he was acting head of the

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, commonly known as the Javits Center, is a large convention center on Eleventh Avenue between 34th Street and 38th Street in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City. It was designed by architect James ...

.Fowler, Glenn (April 3, 1991). Sol C. Chaikin, 73, Ex-Organizer Who Led Garment Workers, Dies. ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' The Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy at the Florence Heller Graduate School for Social Policy,

Brandeis University Brandeis University is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational institution sponsored by the Jews, Jewish community, Brandeis was established on t ...

, is named in his honor.

References

External links

Guide to the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Sol C. Chaikin. The First Year. Presentation volume, 1975-1976.
via Cornell University

1918 births 1991 deaths International Ladies Garment Workers Union leaders Brooklyn Law School alumni Vice presidents of the AFL–CIO {{US-activist-stub