Allan Shaw Haywood (January 9, 1888 – February 21, 1953) was an English-born American labor union leader. Born in

Monk Bretton Monk Bretton is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It lies approximately two miles north-east from Barnsley town centre. History Monk Bretton has been a settlement since medieval times and was origin ...

, in England, Haywood began working with his father in a local coal mine, at the age of 13, and he joined the

Yorkshire Miners' Association The Yorkshire Miners' Association was a British trade union. It is now an integral part of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). History The union was founded in 1881 with the merger of the South Yorkshire Miners' Association, and the ...

. In 1906, he emigrated to the United States, still working in mining, initially in

Witt, Illinois Witt is a city in Montgomery County, Illinois, United States. The population was 785 at the 2020 census, down from 903 in 2010. Geography Witt is in eastern Montgomery County along Illinois Route 16, which leads southwest to Hillsboro, the cou ...

, and then in

Taylorville, Illinois Taylorville is a city in and the county seat of Christian County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,506 at the 2020 census, making it the county's largest city. History Taylorville was founded on May 24, 1839, and was named after J ...

. He immediately joined the

United Mine Workers of America The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American Labor history of the United States, labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing worke ...

, and soon became a full-time organizer for the union. He became vice-president of his sub-district, then president, and then represented his district on the national executive. The president of the United Mine Workers,

John L. Lewis John Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) from 1920 to 1960. A major player in the history of coal mining, he was the d ...

, was a leading figure in the formation of the

Committee for Industrial Organization A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

(CIO), and Haywood strongly supported the initiative. He was seconded to the United Rubber Workers of America in 1936, as an adviser, then in 1937, he became the CIO's regional director for

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. During this period, he also chaired the Utility Workers Organizing Committee, and was president of the New York State Industrial Union Council. In 1939, Haywood was appointed as the CIO's director of organization, and from 1942 he was also a vice-president of the federation. He travelled the country, speaking and negotiating on behalf of the CIO, and became known as "Mr CIO". At various times, he chaired organizing committees for telephone workers, federal workers, paper workers, and railroad workers. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he also served on the advisory committee to the

Council of National Defense The Council of National Defense was a United States organization formed during World War I to coordinate resources and industry in support of the war effort, including the coordination of transportation, industrial and farm production, financial s ...

, and the labor advisory committee of the Office of Price Mobilization. In 1951, Haywood was given the title of executive vice-president of the CIO, officially its second-in-command. The following year, he stood for the presidency of the federation, but was defeated by

Walter Reuther Walter Philip Reuther (; September 1, 1907 – May 9, 1970) was an American leader of Labor unions in the United States, organized labor and Civil rights movements, civil rights activist who built the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of ...

. He died the following year, while giving a speech in

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the secon ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haywood, Allan 1888 births 1953 deaths American trade union leaders People from Monk Bretton American trade unionists of English descent English emigrants to the United States United Mine Workers of America people Vice Presidents of the Congress of Industrial Organizations