Abstract

Peace Comes to the Fur Market

Ten years of civil war in New York's fur market ended on June 12, 1935 when Fur Workers Industrial Union signed its own death warrant and asked its members to join the New York Joint Council of the International Fur Workers Union. Many forces have played varying roles in the furriers' unions. First in point of time was the leadership of International Fur Workers Union. The fur workers of New York followed their chiefs into exile. For a year they fought for the reunification of the union. During the struggle working conditions and wages for the furriers were cut to the bone as the manufacturers and contractors took full advantage of the strife. Vicious fights on the picket lines, in the shops and on the streets were a daily occurrence.