The Joint Board at its peak had about 12,000 members, and today it is down to about 2,000-3,000. The majority of textile workers in Philadelphia are still organized. Many factors contributed to this decline. The decline in textile employees has been general; indeed, in Philadelphia, more non-union shops have failed than union shops. Family-owned companies, which dominated the industry in Philadelphia, closed down because the children of the original owners neither needed nor cared to continue running the business. There was actually very little migration. Many mills had antiquated machinery, and rather than invest the money necessary to update this machinery, the company chose to close down. Imports were a factor. Also, in plants where the employer was willing to install new machinery, this often meant a reduction in the work force of as much as 50 percent, with the alternative being plant liquidation.
