Evelyn Moniz remembers her first impression of the mills in Fall River, and her first factory job in 1935. “They were called sweatshops, and I soon learned why,” Moniz said. “Work was so plentiful, you could leave one shop and go across the street, or go upstairs or downstairs in the same building, and get work.”

At 92, Moniz has written a book about her memories of working with the local unions for the New England Joint Board of UNITE HERE in Boston. She is currently the group’s recording secretary.

Evelyn Moniz remembers her first impression of the mills in Fall River, and her first factory job in 1935.

“They were called sweatshops, and I soon learned why,” Moniz said. “Work was so plentiful, you could leave one shop and go across the street, or go upstairs or downstairs in the same building, and get work.”

Moniz’s first job was at the former Kravif Manufacturing on 12th Street, off Pleasant Street. At the time, the shops were not yet unionized — something she would certainly change.

“Pleasant Street and Bedford Street were so full of mills that when the factories let out, it looked like an army walking the streets,” Moniz said. “But one thing was missing. There were no union shops.”

At 92, Moniz has written a book about her memories of working with the local unions for the New England Joint Board of UNITE HERE in Boston. She is currently the group’s recording secretary.

The former International Ladies Garment Workers Union and Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union combined to become UNITE in 1995, and then UNITE HERE shortly after to include hotel and restaurant employees.

Many a shop employee in Fall River was a member of one of those former unions.

As a young woman, Moniz had friends who worked at the former Little Dorothy Dress Shop on Hope Street. The employees, about 175, wanted to bring in a union and asked Moniz if she would help.

“They knew I was outspoken,” Moniz said. “They knew I wasn’t afraid to speak.”

A picket line soon formed outside the dress shop, and though it got “rough” at times, it became the first unionized mill in the city.

“I then realized my goal in life was to help people,” Moniz said. “There was no stopping me.”

Moniz spoke at rallies and became an activist.

Moniz also worked for Little Dorothy Dress, first making bows then as a presser. She became a union trustee, recording secretary and convention delegate.

In 1968, the ILGWU held its convention in Atlantic City, N.J. President Lyndon Johnson was a speaker and praised the ILGWU’s good work, according to Moniz.

She worked for Little Dorothy Dress until it closed, and then went through five more shop closings as the manufacturing business left the city and emptied the old mill buildings.

Moniz has won numerous awards for her union organizing over the years.

She won the Labor Award in 1991, and a Congressional Award from Rep. Barney Frank the same year.

She also received the Harry S. Dunham Memorial Award, the Presidential Award from the Fall River Labor Council, and the Silver Needle Award from the ILGWU.

Moniz has held the local president’s office for five terms, three for Local 178 and two for Local 361 of the ILGWU.

In 1985, when it became hard to find work in the local shops, Moniz went to work as a home health aide rather than retire.

She continued to work in that field until 2010 when health problems forced her to retire. She was 90 years old.

Moniz, a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, said it’s hard to imagine that all of the mills have closed when they probably employed about 200,000 people at one time.

“People relied on the factories for work,” Moniz said. “There’s no work now. They’re all unemployed.”

Moniz is a Lifetime Honorary Member of the New England Joint Board of UNITE HERE. She plans to attend its next meeting in Boston.



Email Deborah Allard at dallard@heraldnews.com.