James Maloney (September 11, 1870 – January 28, 1960) was an American labor union leader. Born in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

, Maloney began working in a glass bottle factory at the age of eight. He later completed an apprenticeship as a glass bottle blower, and joined the

Glass Bottle Blowers' Association The Glass Bottle Blowers' Association (GBBA) was a labor union representing workers involved in making blown glass in the United States and Canada. Origins Early glassmakers' unions In 1842, craftsmen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed a glass ...

(GBBA) in 1890. He held various posts in his local union, and then in 1909 was elected to the international union's executive board. Maloney won election as a vice-president of the GBBA in 1917, and then in 1925 as president of the union. When he took over as leader of the union, it was struggling to continue after heavy job losses due to

alcohol prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic be ...

. He worked with leaders of the brewery and distillery unions to campaign for the repeal of prohibition, and once this took place, the GBBA's membership grew from 2,000 to 34,000. Maloney served as the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...

's delegate to the

Trades and Labor Congress of Canada The Trades and Labor Congress of Canada was a Canada-wide central federation of trade unions from 1886 to 1956. It was founded at the initiative of the Toronto Trades and Labour Council and the Knights of Labor. It was the third attempt at a nat ...

in 1935, and then to the British

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

in 1939. He was also a founder of the

Union Labor Life Insurance Company Ullico Inc. is a privately held insurance and financial services holding company in the United States. Formerly known as Union Labor Life Insurance Company, it was founded in 1927 by the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and its then president, ...

, and served for a time as its treasurer. Maloney retired in 1946, returning to Scranton, where he died in 1960, at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maloney, James 1870 births 1960 deaths American trade union leaders People from Scranton, Pennsylvania Trade unionists from Pennsylvania