UNITE (Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees) was founded in 1995. The new union was formed by the merger of two of the nation’s preeminent and oldest unions, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) and the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) in Miami where delegates from both former unions ratified a merger agreement.
Since its founding, UNITE has fought aggressively for workers’ rights, taking a lead in organizing new workers, fighting against sweatshops and also fighting corporate greed. The merged union, which represents workers in Canada, the U.S. and Puerto Rico, is also the largest industrial union in the metropolitan New York area and in the Southeast U.S. UNITE members work in basic apparel and textile. UNITE also represents workers in the auto parts and auto supply industries, millinery, shoe, laundry, glove and tanning, bag and packaging, retail and related industries. In addition, UNITE represents all 7,000 Xerox manufacturing workers in the U.S. and Canada.
WWW hosts “Stop sweatshop campaign” which accesses basic information about the issue, a newsletter, teaching materials, current campaigns and links to other organisations.