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'''Sidney Hillman''' (1887-1946), was a major labor union leader of the New Deal era, and a leading liberal. He began his career as one of the organizers of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and at 27 became its first president. He held that post to the day of his death and during that time was the unquestioned czar of this union. He was one of the founders of the [[CIO]] in the late 1930s, launching a major rival to the more conservative [[AFL]]. He directed CIO political operations on behalf of liberal Democrats and the [[New Deal Coalition]], making a special effort to reelect his close ally, President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in 1940 and 1944.[[File:Hillman44.jpgthumb|275px|right|Hillman as head of CIO Political Action Committee July 1944]]

'''Sidney Hillman''' (1887-1946), was a major labor union leader of the New Deal era, and a leading liberal. He began his career as one of the organizers of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and at 27 became its first president. He held that post to the day of his death and during that time was the unquestioned czar of this union. He was one of the founders of the [[CIO]] in the late 1930s, launching a major rival to the more conservative [[AFL]]. He directed CIO political operations on behalf of liberal Democrats and the [[New Deal Coalition]], making a special effort to reelect his close ally, President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in 1940 and 1944.

 

==Career==

==Career==

Hillman was born to a family of rabbis and small business owners in [[Lithuania]] in 1887. He arrived in the [[United States]] in 1907. By the age of sixteen he was organizing the typesetters of Kovno for the Bund, the outlawed Jewish trade union movement. The Czarist police imprisoned him in 1904 for organizing in a labor parade, and again during the revolution of 1905 while working for the Social Democratic party. When the revolution was defeated he fled to the United States. In Chicago he worked for $8 a week as a cutter at the giant the men's clothing factory of Hart, Shaffner and Marx. In 1910 the workers there went on strike, sparking a a strike in the entire Chicago men's clothing industry. Hillman became a strike leader and negotiated a compromise settlement calling for arbitration. He was elected business agent of the newly formed Local 39, United Garment Workers of America. His moderation and realism now made the arbitration plan work, as Hillman gained the trust of workers and management. Meanwhile a new national union formed of needle workers, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. It named Hillman president and became his base of power until his death.   

Hillman was born to a family of rabbis and small business owners in [[Lithuania]] in 1887. He arrived in the [[United States]] in 1907. By the age of sixteen he was organizing the typesetters of Kovno for the Bund, the outlawed Jewish trade union movement. The Czarist police imprisoned him in 1904 for organizing in a labor parade, and again during the revolution of 1905 while working for the Social Democratic party. When the revolution was defeated he fled to the United States. In Chicago he worked for $8 a week as a cutter at the giant the men's clothing factory of Hart, Shaffner and Marx. In 1910 the workers there went on strike, sparking a a strike in the entire Chicago men's clothing industry. Hillman became a strike leader and negotiated a compromise settlement calling for arbitration. He was elected business agent of the newly formed Local 39, United Garment Workers of America. His moderation and realism now made the arbitration plan work, as Hillman gained the trust of workers and management. Meanwhile a new national union formed of needle workers, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. It named Hillman president and became his base of power until his death.   

*Galenson, Walter. ''The CIO Challenge to the AFL: A History of the American Labor Movement, 1935-1941'' (1960) [http://www.questia.com/read/57135935 online edition][http://www.questia.com/read/57135935 online edition]

*Galenson, Walter. ''The CIO Challenge to the AFL: A History of the American Labor Movement, 1935-1941'' (1960) [http://www.questia.com/read/57135935 online edition][http://www.questia.com/read/57135935 online edition]

* Josephson, Matthew. ''Sidney Hillman'' (1952), good older biography

* Josephson, Matthew. ''Sidney Hillman'' (1952), good older biography

*Lichtenstein, Nelson. ''Labor's War at Home: The CIO in World War II'' (2003)

*Lichtenstein, Nelson. ''Labor's War at Home: The CIO in World War II'' (2003)

* Zieger, Robert H. ''The CIO, 1935-1955'' (1995) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=30498029 online edition], the standard scholarly history

* Zieger, Robert H. ''The CIO, 1935-1955'' (1995) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=30498029 online edition], the standard scholarly history