UNITE and HERE always organized and represented some of the most harassed workers in North America—recent immigrants, African Americans, women and workers in the South. (Read more about the predecessor unions' histories: UNITE | HERE. )
| 1891 |
Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union forms |
| 1900 |
Workers making women's clothes form the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) |
| 1906 |
The San Francisco earthquake nearly wipes out the hospitality industry for months |
| 1909 |
A winning strike of 20,000 garment workers, mostly teenage girls, in New York City truly launches the ILGWU |
| 1911 |
A fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City kills 146 workers, leading to the first workplace health and safety laws |
| 1914 |
Men's clothing workers form the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) |
| 1923 |
The ACWA opens the Amalgamated Bank for workers and unions |
| 1939 |
New York City Hotel Trades Council forms and signs first contract with the Hotel Association. |
| 1939 |
Southern textile workers found the Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA) |
| 1941 |
ACWA begins employer-paid health and life insurance |
| 1947 |
Strike at the Brass Rail ends victoriously after six years |
| 1958 |
100,000 striking ILGWU members in eight states win the required use of the union label |
| 1963 |
The TWUA begins organizing at textile giant JP Stevens |
| 1960s |
New York's HERE locals march to support the lunch counter sit-ins to end segregation in the South |
| 1976 |
ACWA and TWUA merge and create the Amalgamated Clothing & Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) |
| 1980 |
After 17 years, 4,000 workers at JP Stevens win a contract |
| 1984 |
HERE organizes Yale University's support staff |
| 1995 |
UNITE is formed out of the ILGWU and ACTWU |
| 1998 |
Strikers at the Las Vegas Frontier Hotel & Casino win after nearly 7 years. UNITE begins major organizing campaigns in laundries, coming to represent 40,000 within 5 years |
| 1999 |
5,000 workers at Fieldcrest Cannon textile mills join UNITE after 25-year struggle |
| 2001 |
The attack on the World Trade Center kills 43 HERE members; the resulting economic downturn costs thousands of HERE and UNITE members their jobs |
| 2002 |
Workers at the Marriott Hotel in San Francisco negotiate 1st contract after a 22-year fight
UNITE forms partnerships with the NAACP and the Sierra Club to further civil and workers' rights & bring the environmental and labor movements together |
| 2003 |
HERE & UNITE work together on the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride, the Yale strike and H&M organizing campaign |
