Jacob Potofsky – Wikipedia

Posted on by

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

20th-century American labor union leader

Jacob Samuel Potofsky (November 26, 1894 – August 5, 1979) was a Russian Empire-born American trade unionist, best known as second president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, succeeding founder Sidney Hillman.[1]

Background[edit]

Jacob Samual Potofsky was born on November 26, 1894, in the Teteriv River town of Radomisl, Russian Empire (now Radomyshl, Ukraine).[1][2] At age eleven, Potofsky immigrated with his family to Chicago, USA.[2]

Potofsky started working when he was 14 years old[1] as a pocket maker.[3] In 1910, by then a “floor boy” in a clothing factory for Hart, Schaffner & Marx, as a member of Pantsmakers Local 144 he partook in a strike called by Sidney Hillman against the clothing manufacturer.[1][2] Soon after, Potofsky joined what became the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America.[1][3] In 1913, he became secretary-treasurer of the union’s joint board in Chicago. In 1916, Hillman moved him to New York, where he became assistant general secretary of the union. In 1934, Potofsky became assistant president. In 1940, he became general secretary-treasurer when Joseph Schlossberg retired. In 1941, he strongly opposed the isolationist policy of John L. Lewis, president of the CIO and also the United Mine Workers (UMW).[2]

In 1946, after 36 years of association, Potofsky succeeded Hillman as president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, when the union had 350,000 members and 96% of the men’s clothing industry under union contract.[2] He was active in the American Labor Party of New York State.[2]

Potofsky was an influential figure in the Labor history of the United States in his own right.[4] In 1960, he supported John F. Kennedy for president; in 1968, he supported Hubert H. Humphrey for president.[1] He held the post until 1972.[1]

Potofsky was noted for his ability to reconcile differences within a union or between union and employer. He was, however, staunchly pro-labor, warning workers that “What you earn at the bargaining tables can be taken away in the legislative halls.”[1] His work landed him on the master list of Nixon political opponents.[citation needed]

Personal life and death[edit]

Potofsky married twice, first to Callie Taylor (who died in 1946) and then to widow Blance Lydia Zetland; they had two daughters.[1] (Daughter Delia married noted photographer and newspaper columnist William P. Gottlieb.[1])

Jacob Samuel Potofsky died age 84 on August 5, 1979, in New York City of cancer.[1]

Following his death, President Jimmy Carter issued a statement recognizing Potofsky as “one of the giants of the labor movement”.[4] The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America hailed Potofsky, saying in a release that “The life and times of Mr. Potofsky are inextricably interwoven with the growth and stability of the American labor movement.”[1] ACW president Murray Finley and secretary-treasurer Jack Sheinkman stated, “Jack Potosfky’s genius was motivating workers to face their own destinies. In his case, it was organizing workers to form unions, to bargain collectively, and to make group decisions for the common good.”[1]

  • Autobiographical essay in American Spiritual Autobiographies: Fifteen Self-Portraits (1948)[5]
  • “The Pioneering of Workers’ Banks” (1963)[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m
    “Jacob Potofsky, Longtime Head of Clothing Workers, Dies at 84” (PDF). New York Times. 6 August 1979. pp. D9. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Raskin, A.H. (15 July 1946). “Potofsky to Head Clothing Workers; He Is Elected President of the Amalgamated to Succeed the Late Sidney Hillman; Policies to be Continued”. New York Times. p. 27. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  3. ^ a b Daly, Michael (August 7, 1979). “Potofsky Was a Union Leader Cut from Plain, Tough Cloth”. Daily News. New York, NY. p. 4. Retrieved May 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  4. ^ a b Peters, Gerhard. “Death of Jacob Potofsky Statement by the President”. American Presidency Project: Jimmy Carter.
  5. ^ Potofsky, Jacob S. (1948). “Jacob S. Potofsky”. In Finkelstein, Louis (ed.). American Spiritual Autobiographies: Fifteen Self-Portraits. Harper and Brothers. pp. 226–242. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  6. ^ Potofsky, Jacob S. (May 1963). “The Pioneering of Workers’ Banks”. The Federationist: Official Monthly Magazine of the AFL-CIO.

External links[edit]

  • Staff report (June 28, 1973). Lists of White House ‘Enemies’ and Memorandums Relating to Those Named. New York Times
  • Letter to Mrs. Morton Baum on the occasion of the death of her husband, August 1963