John L. Lewis (1880–1969) labor leader

Born in Iowa to Welsh immigrant parents, Lewis became a miner while still in his teens. In his late 20s, he began serving in the UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA (UMWA) and became acting president of the union in 1919. Also, in 1911 he became an organizer for the AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR (AFL). He was elected president of the UMWA in 1920, holding the job until he retired in 1960. In his 40 years as head of the union, he often clashed with other unions and embarked on long strikes.

His bitterest clash with other unions occurred when he split with the American Federation of Labor and formed the Committee for Industrial Organization, or CIO, in 1935. Unions that joined Lewis were expelled from the AFL, stirring great animosity within the union movement. His new efforts were successful, however, because by the late 1930s the CIO had more members than the AFL. In 1938, the CIO changed its name to the Congress of Industrial Organizations and began organizing unions in the heavy manufacturing, mass-production industries.

Originally a Republican, Lewis became a supporter of Franklin Roosevelt and endorsed him in 1932 and 1936. Lewis decided to support Wendell Willkie for president in 1940 and threatened to resign from the CIO if the president stood again and won reelection. Lewis then made good on his promise and resigned as president of the CIO after Roosevelt won the election; two years later the UMWA withdrew from the CIO.

During World War II, the public became increasingly disillusioned with the miners because of many strikes called during wartime. Most were successful, however, in winning increased wages. In 1946, immediately after the war, the UMWA again joined the CIO but broke away the following year. Congress responded to the uneasy labor situation by passing the TAFTHARTLEY ACT in 1947.

A coal strike in 1948 during the Truman administration led to a crisis in industrial relations and finally led to a moderation in Lewis’s tactics. Lewis also helped create the UMWA Welfare and Retirement Fund in conjunction with the federal government, and it was signed into law during the Truman administration. The fund provided health care to coal workers. He retired from the union in 1960, administering the fund until his death in 1969.

See also GOMPERS, SAMUEL; MEANY, GEORGE.

Further reading

• Alinsky, Saul. John L. Lewis: An Unauthorized Biography. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1949. 
• Dobofsky, Melvyn, and Warren Van Tine. John L. Lewis. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977. 
• Wechsler, James A. Labor Baron: A Portrait of John L. Lewis. New York: William Morrow, 1944.