James Adair Wilson (April 23, 1876 – September 3, 1945) was an American labor union leader. Born in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

, Wilson trained as a patternmaker. In 1898, he joined the

Pattern Makers' League of North America The Pattern Makers' League of North America (PMLNA) was a labor union representing patternmakers in the United States and Canada. History The union was founded on May 18, 1887, in Philadelphia, as the Pattern Makers' National League of North Ame ...

, and he was elected as its president in 1902. In order to take up the post, he moved to

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 ...

, then in 1906, moved to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Wilson traveled to Europe twice on labor missions. He served on the War Labor Board, and was an alternate on the

National Mediation Board The National Mediation Board (NMB) is an independent agency of the United States government that coordinates labor-management relations within the U.S. railroads and airlines industries. History The board was established by the 1934 amendments to ...

. In 1924, he was elected as a vice president of 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 ...

. Wilson left his labor union posts in 1934, to become a labor counselor at the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

in Geneva. He died in 1945.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, James 1876 births 1945 deaths American trade union leaders People from Erie, Pennsylvania Trade unionists from Pennsylvania Vice Presidents of the American Federation of Labor