Willie Lurye was a mild-looking, curly-haired little fellow who would give a man the shirt off his back, people said. Like his Papa, who had been a cigar maker in Sam Gompers' union, he was hot for unions. Willie was a dress presser in the biggest in New York, the International Ladies' Garment Workers (405,000 members). With a wife and four kids to look after, Willie gave up a $180-a-week pressing job last fall to work for $80 as a special organizer: there were still some non-union no-good-nicks in the garment center.
The union, for all its immense power and...
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