Louis Hollander

Louis Hollander (1893–1980) was a labor union leader who co-founded the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America union (ACW), the US portion of the World ORT, and the American Labor Party (ALP); served as state president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), and held several executive roles on the AFL–CIO political action committee; in 1948 he joined the CIO mainstream to oppose the candidacy of Henry A. Wallace in favor of incumbent Harry S. Truman.

Background

Louis Hollander was born in Wadowice, Russian Empire (now Poland). At age ten, he immigrated with his family to the US and settled in New York. He did not finish his high school diploma until 1913 because he had gone to work early in life and had to work nights to complete that education.

Career

At age thirteen, Hollander entered the clothing trade as a fitter and pants cutter. In 1913, before he turned 20, he had become an organizer for the United Brotherhood of Tailors, affiliated with the United Garment Workers.

In 1914, Hollander left those unions to co-found the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America union (ACW) and traveled in the US and Canada to expand its membership.

In 1922, Hollander helped Adolph Held found the US arm of the Organization for Rehabilitation through Training (ORT), now called the World ORT. In 1938, he co-founded the American Labor ORT.

In 1936, Hollander co-founded the American Labor Party (ALP) of New York State and in 1937 ran successfully for Brooklyn City councilman on an ALP ticket, after which he declined a second term to refocus on union business.

In the 1940s, Hollander worked on the New York State CIO and became its president in 1943. He supported New York Governor W. Averell Harriman but not Thomas E. Dewey, though Dewey did seek Hollander's advice on labor legislation. In 1946, he said of Joseph Catalanotti, fellow member of the New York State CIO board, that he had "earned the respect and gratitude of all workers for his ceaseless efforts on behalf of a better America and a better world."

In 1947, he stood with the CIO in opposing passage of the Taft–Hartley Act. On December 29, 1947, Hollander appeared before the Joint Committee on Housing of the Eightieth Congress (First Session) as head of the New York State CIO and read a prepared statement and testified regarding housing in the State of New York for what was then the "Taft–Ellender–Wagner Bill" and became the Housing Act of 1949. Like other union leaders, he shared his personal housing situation:

In 1948, he followed CIO president Philip Murray in an anti-communist stance (against the pro-CPUSA ALP, which he helped found) in rejecting former US Vice President Henry A. Wallace and his Progressive Party and sticking with incumbent US President Harry S. Truman. In July 1948, he publicly oppose the Lee Pressman, who was the ALP candidate for U.S. Congress in the 14th District of New York (Brooklyn) against Abraham J. Multer.

In 1953, the ACWA and CIO celebrated the start of Hollander's eleventh term as manager of the New York joint board of the ACWA. They marked a triple anniversary: 40 years as ACWA executive, 20 years as chief spokesman for the ACWA in New York City, and 10 years as president of the New York State CIO. To mark the occasion, he gave an overview of "labor's evolution":

In 1955, when the CIO merged back into the AFL to form the AFL–CIO, Hollander became New York State president of the AFL–CIO.

In 1976, Hollander retired from the ACW, where he had served as a vice president since 1936.

Personal life and death

Hollander was married to Mollie.

In 1939, Hollander established a Louis Hollander Scholarship at Cornell University, which invited him to join its board of trustees in 1944. In 1951, he helped found a Sidney Hillman Health Center and served as its president. In 1970, he retired from the Cornell board.

Hollander supported formation of Israel in 1948 and asked that Marshall Plan include the new state in 1949.

Louis Hollander died age 87 on January 3, 1980, at The Workmen's Circle Home for the Aged in the Bronx.

Recognition

• Page One Award of the Newspaper Guild of New York

External sources

• Louis Hollander Papers at Cornell University's Kheel Center for Labor-Management
• Columbia University: Reminiscences of Louis Hollander : lecture, 1963