Sidney Hillman: Labor Hall of Fame

Labor Hall of Fame Honoree

Sidney Hillman
1887-1946

"We want a better America, an America that will give its citizens, first of all, a higher and higher standard of living so that no child will cry for food in the midst of plenty."

First president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, he was organized labor's foremost "statesman." As both idealist and pragmatist, he fought for improved wages and hours, eliminated sweat-shop working conditions for his members, and in 1914 established a system of arbitration still in universal use today. He pioneered in creating labor banks and low-cost housing for working people. His belief in fair and constructive labor-management relations led to a stable clothing industry. A founder of the CIO, he established labor as a major political force. Allied with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he helped forge the New Deal of the 1930's, making possible the achievement of such legislation as the Fair Labor Standards Act, and marshalled labor's monumental role in producing our country's tools of victory during World War II.