“Forgive and Forget” Is Olive Branch Extended to Excluded Members
An offer to restore peace in the ranks of the International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union, the majority of whose members are Jews, was made by the Right Wing at a mass meeting held Wednesday evening at the Manhattan Opera House and an overflow meeting at Bryant Hall.
What virtually amounts to a proposal on the part of the Right Wing to “forgive and forget” and a readiness to readmit into the International the Left Wing groups excluded several years ago was made by Benjamin Schlesinger, recently elected president of the International succeeding Morris Sigman. The ranks of the Jewish cloak and dress makers of New York City have been torn by bitter partisan strife often leading to acts of violence since the split.
According to the offer, all members who have been excluded from the Union will be readmitted and recognized as old members with all rights and privileges, regardless of their personal, political convictions. It was stipulated, however, that this status would be extended to them “as long as they will comply with the provisions of the Union constitution and will not act as outside organizations may dictate to them.”
New elections in the locals and of the Joint Board are to take place, in which the Left Wingers may participate. A convention of the International is to be called after the conclusion of negotiations with the Employers’ Association concerning a new trade agreement, to elect new officers.
Those present concurred in the proposal, but there is no definite way of knowing as to whether the Left Wingers as a whole will accept.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
