# Gertrude Lane

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For the American editor, see [Gertrude Battles Lane](/source/Gertrude_Battles_Lane).

**Gertrude Lane** (died 1953) was an American trade unionist and labor organizer active in [New York City](/source/New_York_City) from the 1930s. Lane led the Office Workers Union and held roles in the [Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union](/source/Hotel_and_Restaurant_Employees_and_Bartenders_International_Union).

## Education and early career

Lane was a graduate of [Hunter College](/source/Hunter_College).[1] She had wanted to become a [librarian](/source/Librarian) but left college during the [Great Depression](/source/Great_Depression) and so had to find work as a [waitress](/source/Waitress).[2]

## Trade unionism

Lane was a leading member of the Office Workers Union (OWU) in New York, a white-collar union established in the early 1930s and affiliated with the [Trade Union Unity League](/source/Trade_Union_Unity_League). She was the highest-ranking official in the union and was credited for highlighting the important role of women in labor struggles.[3] In 1934, Lane was elected to the national committee of a conference held to look at establishing a national Office Workers Union.[4] She was chairman of the strike committee during the OWU strikes at [S. Klein](/source/S._Klein) and [Ohrbach](/source/Ohrbach) department stores in 1935.[5] The OWU later merged into the [United Office and Professional Workers of America](/source/United_Office_and_Professional_Workers_of_America) (UOPWA).[6]

Lane was also a founder of the Hotel and Club Employees Union,[7] a [local](/source/Local_union) (Local 6) of the [Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union](/source/Hotel_and_Restaurant_Employees_and_Bartenders_International_Union).[8] She worked as its [secretary](/source/Secretary_(title))-[treasurer](/source/Treasurer).[2][7]

Lane was supportive of *[The Daily Worker](/source/The_Daily_Worker)* and encouraged union members to subscribe to and read it.[9] According to *[In These Times](/source/In_These_Times_(magazine))*, there is evidence that Lane was a member of the national committee of the [Communist Party of the United States](/source/Communist_Party_USA) although she was deemed "not currently of sufficient interest" to be added to the [FBI](/source/FBI)'s [Security Index](/source/FBI_Index).[1] Lane was recorded as attending the Communist Party convention in July 1945 in a report by [John F. Cronin](/source/John_Francis_Cronin).[10] *[Counterattack](/source/Counterattack_(newsletter))*, an anti-communist newsletter, named Lane and her husband as communists in 1948 and announced it had sent information about Lane to [Congress](/source/US_Congress).[11]

## Personal life and death

Lane was married to Jay Rubin, another trade unionist who was president of the New York Hotel Trades Council.[12] Lane died in 1953 after a period of illness and was survived by Rubin who died in 1990.[12][7]

## References

1. Shaun Richman (3 September 2020). ["A Brief History of the U.S. Government’s Targeting of Left-Wing Immigrants"](https://inthesetimes.com/article/threat-of-dissent-julia-rose-kraut-review-communism). *[In These Times](/source/In_These_Times_(magazine))*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250216161159/https://inthesetimes.com/article/threat-of-dissent-julia-rose-kraut-review-communism) 16 February 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 February 2025.

1. ["Library Unions Round Table"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/25693068). *[ALA Bulletin](/source/ALA_Bulletin)*. **42** (9): 74–76. September 1948. [JSTOR 25693068](https://www.jstor.org/stable/25693068). Retrieved 8 February 2025.

1. Daniel J. Opler (2007). *For All White-Collar Workers: The Possibilities of Radicalism in New York City's Department Store Unions, 1934–1953*. [Ohio State University Press](/source/Ohio_State_University_Press). pp. 31–32. ISBN 9780814210635.

1. ["Office Union Makes Great Advances"](https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020097/1934-07-02/ed-2/seq-2/#date1=1756&index=0&rows=20&words=Gertrude+Lane&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=New+York&date2=1963&proxtext=gertrude+lane&y=10&x=16&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1). *[The Daily Worker](/source/The_Daily_Worker)*. 2 July 1934. p. 2. Retrieved 8 February 2025.

1. ["Gold to Speak At Strike Rally Of Office Union"](https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020097/1935-01-02/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1756&index=3&rows=20&words=Gertrude+Lane&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=New+York&date2=1963&proxtext=gertrude+lane&y=10&x=16&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1). *[The Daily Worker](/source/The_Daily_Worker)*. 2 January 1935. p. 2. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250318204609/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020097/1935-01-02/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1756&index=3&rows=20&words=Gertrude+Lane&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=New+York&date2=1963&proxtext=gertrude+lane&y=10&x=16&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1) 18 March 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 February 2025.

1. Gerald M. Monroe (1974). ["Artists As Militant Trade Union Workers during the Great Depression"](http://www.darkmatterarchives.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/MonroeAAAJ1974.pdf). *[Archives of American Art Journal](/source/Archives_of_American_Art_Journal)*. **14** (1): 9–10. Retrieved 8 February 2025. Primarily a union of bookkeepers, stenographers, office workers, and insurance agents, the UOPWA originally had been the Office Workers Union of the Communist-run Trade Union Unity League.

1. ["Guide to the Gertrude Lane Papers WAG.162"](https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/wag_162/). *[NYU Libraries](/source/NYU_Libraries)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250223035546/https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/wag_162/) 23 February 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 February 2025.

1. Kostis Karpozilos (2013). ["From 'Slaves of the Kitchen' to 'Thanks to the Union': Greek-American Hotel and Restaurant Workers during the Great Depression"](https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/pdf/10.1484/J.FOOD.5.102111). *[Food & History](/source/Food_%26_History)*. **11** (2): 239. Retrieved 8 February 2025. Thus in New York City alone there were at least twelve different locals operating in the ranks of the HRE: ... Local 6 (Hotel and Club Employees)

1. ["Push Drive To Limit, Say Union Heads"](https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020097/1934-08-09/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1756&index=6&rows=20&words=Gertrude+Lane&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=New+York&date2=1963&proxtext=gertrude+lane&y=10&x=16&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1). *[The Daily Worker](/source/The_Daily_Worker)*. 9 August 1934. p. 3. Retrieved 8 February 2025.

1. John F. Cronin. ["The Problem of American Communism in 1945: Facts and Recommendations"](https://mdhistory.msa.maryland.gov/hiss/cronin-report.pdf). *[Maryland.gov](/source/Maryland.gov)*. p. 111. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20241220100205/https://mdhistory.msa.maryland.gov/hiss/cronin-report.pdf) 20 December 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 February 2025.

1. ["Communist Battle Is Near A Climax In Worst-Infested AFL Union"](https://library.bloomu.edu/Archives/SC/RadicalNewsletters/Counterattack/19481029.pdf). *[Counterattack](/source/Counterattack_(newsletter))*. No. 75. 29 October 1948. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230426152912/https://library.bloomu.edu/Archives/SC/RadicalNewsletters/Counterattack/19481029.pdf) 26 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 February 2025.

1. Joan Cook (14 August 1990). ["Jay Rubin, 86, President Emeritus Of New York Hotel Union Council"](https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/14/obituaries/jay-rubin-86-president-emeritus-of-new-york-hotel-union-council.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150927011018/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/14/obituaries/jay-rubin-86-president-emeritus-of-new-york-hotel-union-council.html) 27 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 February 2025.

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