Uviller, Harry
UVILLER, HARRY
UVILLER, HARRY (1897–1973), U.S. trade union leader. Born in Brooklyn, Uviller joined the women's garment industry in 1915 as part-time bookkeeper and salesman in the coat trade, at the same time attending the evening division of the New York University School of Law, but after graduation he chose to remain in the garment industry. He organized the coat contractors and became general manager of the American Coat and Suit Manufacturers Association. In 1936, with the support of Mayor Fiorello H. La *Guardia and the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, Uviller became impartial chairman of the industry; concurrently, he held the post of chairman of the New York State Mediation Board from 1955 to 1958. Under his leadership, there was no market-wide strike in the industry from 1936 to 1958. In the garment strike in the latter year, Uviller and Senator Herbert H. *Lehman acted as mediators. As chairman of the New York State Mediation Board, Uviller mediated hundreds of labor disputes, earning a reputation for integrity and fairness with both labor and management. In 1961 the Harry Uviller Chair in Economics was established in his honor at Brandeis University, and in the same year he served as chairman of the Greater New York Histadrut Council.