Elias Lieberman (labor lawyer)

Elias Lieberman (1888–1969) was a Russian-born, 20th-century American labor lawyer who spent his career in the service of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU)^[1][2][3] and became known as the "Dean of American Labor Lawyers."^[4]

Background[]

Elias Lieberman was born Elias Hillel Liberman on November 10, 1888,^[1] in Bobr, then Russian Empire, now Belarus, where he attended the Minsk yeshiva and high school.^[2] In 1909,^[3] he arrived in the USA and worked various jobs while studying law.^[1][2] In 1920, he received an LLB in law from New York University.^[3]

Career[]

In 1913, Lieberman became deputy clerk of ILGWU Local 25.^[1] In 1915 or 1917, he became he became chairman of the ILGWU Local 25's Educational Committee,^[1] while Juliet Stuart Poyntz became education director of the Worker's University .^[5][6] In 1916, he became chief clerk.^[1] In 1918, he worked with the publication department.^[1]

In 1920, Lieberman became an attorney and counsel for the ILGWU (through the 1960s). In 1922, he was admitted to the New York Bar^[3] and Federal Bar. He also served as counsel for United Hatters, Cap and Millinery Workers International Union, the International Jewelry Workers' Union Local 1 (later Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union), United Furniture Workers of America, International Ladies Handbag, Pocketbook and Novelty Workers' Union (later, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 342-5) among others.^[1]

Lieberman also joined The Workmen's Circle (now The Workers Circle), where he served as national executive (1931–1935) an vice president (1933–1935).^[2]

Lieberman was also a member of the International Juridical Association, which he told the Federal Bureau of Investigation.^[7]

Death[]

Lieberman died in October 1969.^[1]

Legacy[]

In 1973, the National Center Library at Baruch University started with an initial grant from the Elias Lieberman Foundation.^[3]

Also in 1973, Hebrew University's Faculty of Law on Mount Scopus launched an Elias Lieberman Chair in Labor Law. Professor Itzhak Zamir was first to hold the chair.^[4] Frances Raday also held that chair.

Lieberman's work remains cited by others, e.g., Labor Relations and the Law (1996).^[8]

Works[]

The review of Unions Before the Bar noted that "Mr. Lieberman writes for the layman and not for the lawyer... a difficult task because it is almost impossible to translate the legal cant." The book presents 27 labor cases and an analysis of the Taft-Hartley Act.^[9]

Books

• The Collective Labor Agreement: How to Negotiate and Draft the Contract (1939)^[10]
• Unions Before the Bar: Historic Trials Showing the Evolution of Labor Rights in the United States (1950)^[11][12]

See also[]

• ILGWU
• Juliet Stuart Poyntz

References[]

External links[]

• Cornell University Library - Lieberman, Elias. Manuscripts. #6036/001. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives
• Cornell University Library - The Disappearance of Juliet Stuart Poyntz

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