John L. Lewis (trade unionist)

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John L. Lewis

John L. Lewis (born February 12, 1880 as John Llewellyn Lewis in Cleveland Township near Lucas , Iowa , † June 11, 1969 in Alexandria ) was an American trade unionist and president of the United Mine from 1920 to 1960 Workers of America (UMWA) and, from 1935 to 1940, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO).

Life

Lewis was born to Welsh immigrants in Lucas in 1880 , where he soon began working at the BIG HILL mine as a teenager . In 1910 he joined the UMWA and was soon elected to office. As early as 1919, only 9 years after his entry, he became the acting president after he had previously been statistician and vice president of UMWA. This office was also officially awarded to him by election in 1920. The UMWA was part of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and broke up in 1938 as part of the elimination of the CIO. The CIO initially consisted of seven unions and by 1937 had more members than the rest of the AFL. Lewis was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the CIO and has been its chairman since 1935. After his resignation as President of the CIO, he had the steel workers outsourced to join the AFL in 1944. In 1921, Lewis tried with the help of William Z. Foster to take over the presidency of the AFL from Samuel Gompers , but failed.

criticism

Joe L. Lewis meeting with miners

John L. Lewis has been criticized for not clearly taking the side of the republic in the Spanish Civil War , as most trade unionists did , probably in order not to offend the Catholics within his union. In doing so, he opposed both the moderate wing and supporters of the CPUSA , which at that time also represented a not insignificant part of the CIO. This lack of respect for the opinions of union members was criticized by co-founders of the CIO, saying that he was too autocratic in handling the union .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry in Wissen.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.wissen.de  
  2. ↑ a b report on John L. Lewis on spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk (English)
  3. ↑ Report on American Union Leaders
  4. ↑ Report on the CIO in 1940 and 1941 (p. 70) (PDF)
  5. ↑ Report on the development in the years 1935-1938 (p. 41) (PDF)
  6. ↑ Report on the development in the years 1935-1938 (p. 42) (PDF)

Web links

Commons : John L. Lewis  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Lewis, John L.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lewis, John Llewellyn
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American trade unionist
DATE OF BIRTH February 12, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Cleveland Township in Lucas , Iowa
DATE OF DEATH June 11, 1969
Place of death Alexandria