Lewis, John L.
John L. Lewis (1880-1969) was the controversial, yet legendary President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) between the years 1919 and 1960. Working closely with Franklin D. Roosevelt and other players in the New Deal, Lewis rebuilt the UMWA and successfully organized previously non-union coal regions. He founded the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) in 1935, which succeeded in gaining union recognition from General Motors and implementing collective bargaining with U.S. Steel. At the time these were the nation’s two greatest mass production enterprises, which only added to the ground-breaking nature of these successes. In the 1940s, Lewis organized labor strikes in the coal mines that were instrumental in improving the safety and livelihoods of coal miners and making coal-mine mechanization possible. However, the wartime labor strikes alienated much of the public and later led to Lewis's falling out with Roosevelt, as well as his loss of control of the CIO.
Further Reading
- John L. Lewis biography, Spartacus Educational.
- John L. Lewis biography, United Mine Workers of America.
- United Mine Workers of America homepage.
