Nagler was born into a Jewish family in
Uście,
Austria-Hungary (now
Ustia,
Ukraine). Nagler emigrated to the United States in 1909, and worked in the clothing industry, joining Local 10 of the International Ladies Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) in 1911. He soon rose to become business manager of the local, also serving on the New York Cloak Joint Board, and later becoming a vice president of the ILGWU. As leader of the New York cloak makers, he secured a 35-hour working week. Nagler was a co-founder of the American Labor Party in 1936, and came up with its name. In 1937 he ran for
Bronx Borough President on the ALP ticket, coming in second place with 39% of the vote. The
next year, he ran for Congress in
New York's 23rd congressional district, again taking second place with 28.4% of the vote. In 1958, he served as labor adviser to the United States delegation to the
International Labour Organization conference. He was vice president of the New York State
AFL-CIO. Nagler was active in various Jewish organizations, becoming secretary of the
Jewish Labor Committee and the Federation for Labor Israel. ==References==