The Ladies' Garment Workers have a still more complicated way of organizing for local solidarity. to local unions according to the "branch of the ladies' garment industry", or "branch of the trade", in which they are employed, with the following provision: "A charter shall not be granted to a Local Union of a branch of the trade of which there is another Local Union in existence in the same city or locality, except with the con- 2 hion In New York City there are at the present time twentyfive locals, among which occur such titles as the following: Ladies' Waist and Dressmakers' Union, Cutters' Union, Buttonhole Makers' and Button Sewers' Union, Bonnaz, Sing er and Hand Embroiderers' Union, Skirt and Cloth Dressmakers' Union, etc. For the sake of industrial solidarity, the constitu tion provides as follows: "Two or more local unions located in the same city or locality and engaged in various branches of the same trade, shall organize a Joint Board." All the local unions in the cloak, suit, and skirt trade, for example, must form a Joint Board, to which each union sends an equal number of delegates. Similarly, local unions in the dress and waistmaking trade form a Joint Board. The Joint Board 1. Constitution, Article VI. 2. Private letter from General Secretary's office. 77 has authority to call and conduct strikes, subject to endorsement by the General Executive Board. This rules out craft division and insures that in each branch of the industry there is local solidarity. Its The constitution provides further that all of the local unions in any one city or locality, irrespective of the trade to which they belong, shall organize a District Council, which shall consist of an equal number of delegates from each local union. The council has nothing to do with strikes. business is to organize all of the various branches of the ladies' garment industry in its locality and agitate for the union label. It decides all controversies between local unions or between a local union and a member. It may censure, fine, suspend, or expel a local union which fails to act according to the general constitution. All its decisions are binding unless reversed by the General Executive Board. In the Amalgamated Textile Workers, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, and the Ladies' Garment Workers the allocation of power between the General Executive Board and the local authority is shown by their method of settling difficulties and conducting strikes. In the case of the Textile Workers, when any difficulties with employers arise, the officers of the Joint Board investigate the trouble immediately and try to adjust the difference. If they fail to settle the trouble, they deliberate whether to call a strike. They must immediately notify the General Office and consult it in |