Two previous books celebrated the accomplishments of New Haven's labor movement. In 1899, the Trades Council of New Haven published the Illustrated History of the Trades Council of New Haven and Affiliated Unions. In 1939, the New Haven Central Labor Council, AFL, published its Labor Digest. Both works demonstrated pride in the City of New Haven in which most of their union members lived and worked. The authors wanted future trade unionists and historians to understand their world and their unions. In the Introduction to the 1899 Illustrated History of the Trades Council of New Haven and Affiliated Unions, the anonymous author(s) stated,

We take this occasion to express the hope that the information contained in this work will not prove devoid of interest nd value though we are fully conscious that the brief sketch of our local organizations, the scope of the work enables us to give, is by no means exhaustive...We can only hope that it may prove an aid to future historians.

Harold V. Feinmark, president of the Central Labor Council, AFL during perhaps the most exciting debate in New Haven labor history, optimistically wrote in his article "Fifty Years of Unionism in New Haven County" which appeared in the 1939 Labor Digest,

Looking ahead toward the vista of the next fifty years, it is natural that the Council should desire the enhancement of future prospects by making New Haven a strongly unionized community not merely for the sake of labor, but also for unselfish community betterment. It goes without saying that new problems will arise; but with the poise and dignity of age labor foresees a new spirit of co-operation with antagonists of the past as friends of the future, meeting each other half way.

Pride, hope, optimism, and a keen sense of the future and of history...these emotions motivated New Haven's labor leaders of 1899 and 1939 to publish their "sketch" of the city's labor movement of their times. Forty years separated the publication dates of the Illustrated History of the Trades Council of New Haven and Affiliated Unions from the Labor Digest. Another 55 years have lapsed before the New Haven labor movement decided to once again memorialize its accomplishments, with the appearance of this Labor Almanac. The same emotions motivate this work. We, too, want to present a "sketch" of the New Haven labor movement of the 1990s for future generations of unionists and historians.

Over the past 55 years, New Haven and its unions have changed beyond recognition. New Haven can no longer claim to be the industrial powerhouse that existed in 1899 or 1939. The city's 1990 population, 130,474, is substantially less than it was in 1930...162,655. At the same time, the suburbs -- just a few generations ago the site of hundreds of acres of farm land have become inhabited by manufacturing firms, stores, offices, and workers' homes. Gone from the city, or severely "downsized" are the manufacturing firms which provided employment for generation after generation. Gone are the scores of shirt and dress shops which Local 125 of the Shirtmakers Union (ACTWU) and Local 151 of the ILGWU transformed from the sweat shops of the early 1930s to firms where well paying jobs could be found for the children of immigrants. The service sector and the public sector have expanded, however. The composition of New Haven's labor movement reflects these changes. Service employees and public sector workers dominate the labor movement of the 1990s.

According to the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, the 25 largest private sector employers in the New Haven area in 1992 were:

table here

One sees from this list the extent to which the New Haven area's economy has shifted to the suburbs and to a service sector emphasis. The city's largest employer is now Yale University, followed by Yale-New Haven Hospital, the Southern New England Telephone (SNET) Company, and St. Raphael's Hospital. Unions have gained considerable strength at Yale University with the organization of Locals 34 and 35, Federation of University Employees, HERE, AFL-CIO. District 1199, the New England Health Care Employees Union has represented the food workers at Yale-New Haven Hospital for years now and the Connecticut Union of Telephone Workers (CUTW), an independent union with close ties to the Greater New Haven Central Labor Council has won some of the highest wages and best fringe benefits for SNET workers since the early 1930s.

Within the city, some of the older manufacturing unions still provide outstanding representation for the workers at Sargent's (UE) and U.S. Repeating Arms (Machinists). The International Ladies Garment Workers Union, Local 151 energized the entire labor community just a few short years ago with its successful campaign against Uretek. Our manufacturing unions have also successfully organized important suburban companies: Pratt and Whitney (Machinists), Sikorskys (Teamsters), Bic (Rubberworkers), American Cyanamid (Chemical workers), and Circuit Wise (UE), among others.

Shirtmaker, New Haven, 1940s PHOTO: Greater New Haven Labor History Assoc.

The Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce list only includes the 25 largest private sector companies. At this point in time, public employees in all the cities and towns in the Greater New Haven area are almost completely unionized, as are the employees of the State of Connecticut and the federal government (such as at the VA Hospital in West Haven). It would not be an exaggeration to say that at least 85 percent of all local, state, and federal employees in the Greater New Haven area are represented by unions. Public employee unions, like AFSCME, AFT, AFGE, NEA, and District 1199 (which represents the health care workers employed by the State of Connecticut) provide great leadership to the labor movement of the l990s and are among the largest unions in the State of Connecticut. In contrast, in 1899 and 1939, when the earlier Illustrated History and Labor Digest were published, public employee unions did not exist. In this regard, one must also mention the incredible organizing accomplishments of another relatively "new" union, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), which has brought union pay scales and fringe benefits to thousands of store workers throughout the region.

Cigar Rollers, F.D. Graves PHOTO: Greater New Haven Labor History Assoc.

We cannot forget that our important link with the past are those New Haven unions whose histories go back to the 19th century, the unions who appeared in the 1899 Illustrated History and continue to fight for their members 100 years later: the building trades. These unions, the painters, the operating engineers, the ironworkers, the bricklayers, the laborers, the carpenters, etc. have learned how to survive the "boom or bust" cycles which have typified the capitalist economic system over the past century.

We are extremely grateful to all of our Sponsors who have contributed to make this Labor Almanac possible and apologize to them for the inordinate length of time it has taken to publish this work. We were delighted with the positive response we received when we asked the labor community for support. We hope that you, the reader, will find the Labor Almanac interesting and useful. Most importantly, we hope our efforts will enable future generations to have a better understanding and appreciation of greater New Haven's working people and their unions.