Who we are
8,000+ workers. Many industries. One union.
The New England Joint Board, UNITE HERE is a labor union representing more than 8,000 working people across six New England states and New York. We organize in industries most people don't think about — and we have been doing it, in one form or another, since 1900.
What is a "Joint Board"?
50+ local unions, one shared engine.
A joint board is a group of local unions that pool resources to do what no single local could afford on its own — bargaining staff, organizers, legal support, education funds, political action, and a benefits office that scales across thousands of members.
You join your local — Local 26 if you cook hotel food in Boston, Local 301 if you deal cards at MGM Springfield, Local 281 if you sew at Joseph Abboud in New Bedford. The local handles your contract, your steward, your business agent. The joint board is the bigger structure that makes it all possible.
Our history
From the garment factories of 1900 to the coffee shops of 2025.
The ILGWU Is Born
Eleven delegates from local unions in New York, Newark, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn meet to form the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Built by immigrant workers in the women's garment trade, the fledgling union would grow into one of the most powerful and progressive forces in the American labor movement.
The Uprising of the 20,000
Nineteen-year-old shirtwaist worker Clara Lemlich rises at a Cooper Union meeting and, speaking in Yiddish, calls for a general strike. Twenty thousand Jewish and Italian women walk out, protesting sexual harassment, inequality, and economic injustice. More than 300 employers sign contracts, launching the ILGWU as a major union.
1911 — The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
Fire tears through New York's Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, killing 146 workers — most of them young immigrant women trapped behind locked doors. The tragedy horrifies the nation and ignites a workplace safety movement, driving landmark protective labor laws first in New York State and eventually across the country.
Bread and Roses
Textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts — with women in the forefront — shut down every major mill in the city for months. The famous "Bread and Roses" strike becomes a defining moment for New England's mill workers and is still commemorated with an annual festival in Lawrence today.
The Amalgamated Is Founded
Breaking away from the anti-immigrant United Garment Workers, delegates form the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and elect Sidney Hillman president. A Lithuanian-born immigrant, Hillman becomes a trusted advisor to President Roosevelt, a founder of the CIO, and a world-renowned champion of workers' rights.
Firsts for Working People
Through bargaining with employers, the ACWA establishes America's first unemployment insurance system — years before any government program. The union also founds the Amalgamated Bank of New York, the world's first labor union bank, proving that workers could build institutions to serve their own interests.
Organizing Comes to New England
With Franklin Roosevelt in the White House, major organizing sweeps New England. ILGWU organizer David Gingold targets Malden Mills as a showpiece strike. After an apparent defeat, workers strike again and win — beginning a union relationship that would last more than 70 years and sparking 37 more strikes across the region.
The Mills Head South
The postwar textile industry sets a devastating new American pattern as factories flee the unionized Northeast for the low-wage, non-union South. Giant J.P. Stevens closes all its unionized New England plants — the beginning of a long fight against runaway shops that would define the union's next half century.
Into the Distribution Sector
The ILGWU wins a historic organizing victory at the Zayre distribution center in Framingham, Massachusetts, opening the door to a growing service sector. First contracts follow at Ames, Hit or Miss, and TJ Maxx — building strength that today's Joint Board carries on with thousands of distribution workers.
Two Unions Become ACTWU
The Amalgamated Clothing Workers and the Textile Workers Union merge to form ACTWU, pooling their strength for the historic J.P. Stevens campaign — the struggle immortalized in the film "Norma Rae." Victory over Stevens comes in 1980, one of labor's landmark wins of the era.
UNITE Is Formed
The ILGWU and ACTWU merge to create UNITE — the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees — consolidating the power of North America's garment, textile, and manufacturing workers. The new union launches aggressive campaigns for global fair labor standards, winning the first retailer accountability agreement from The Gap.
The NEJB Is Formed
Three UNITE joint boards — heirs to the ILGWU, ACTWU, and TWUA traditions — merge into a single New England Joint Board representing 12,000 members in 100 local unions across all six New England states, united to negotiate stronger contracts, organize new workers, and build political power.
UNITE HERE
UNITE merges with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union to form UNITE HERE, joining forces with a union that shares its vision of aggressive organizing and progressive industrial unionism. The merger makes UNITE HERE one of the foremost unions of service and industrial workers in North America.
Carrying the Tradition Forward
From stitchers and pressers to chefs, drivers, and warehouse workers, the New England Joint Board represents a membership as industrially and ethnically diverse as the immigrants who built its predecessor unions. As they did over a century ago, we fight to bring the lowest-paid workers into the middle class with dignity.
Leadership & staff
The team behind the joint board.
Warren Pepicelli
Has spent 40 years walking shop floors, negotiating contracts, and standing with members on the picket line.
Ethan Snow
Keeps the joint board's finances accountable to the members who pay dues — and makes sure every local has the resources to fight.
Business Agents
50+ business agents serve members on the shop floor every day. Find yours under For Members.
Organizers
50+ business agents serve members on the shop floor every day. Find yours under For Members.
ENDORSEMENTS
Political & local leaders we support
Evan MacKay
The New England Joint Board is proud to endorse Evan MacKay for the Massachusetts House of Representatives in the 25th Middlesex District.
Daniel Lander
The New England Joint Board is proud to endorse Daniel Lander for the Massachusetts Senate in the Suffolk and Middlesex District.
Dan Koh
The New England Joint Board is proud to endorse Dan Koh for the United States House of Representatives in Massachusetts' 6th Congressional District.
Troy Jackson
The New England Joint Board is proud to endorse Troy Jackson for United States Senate in Maine.
Ed Markey
The New England Joint Board is proud to endorse Ed Markey for United States Senate in Massachusetts.
Who we represent
One union. Many industries. All workers.
The people who make your clothes, wash your linens, cook and serve your meals, and care for vulnerable adults. Every contract NEJB negotiates makes the next one possible.