James C. Watters (1869-1947) was a Scottish-Canadian coal miner and trade union leader. Born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Watters emigrated to Canada, eventually ending up in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. In that province, he worked as a coal miner and, in 1910, was elected founding president of the BC Federation of Labour. A year later, he was elected president of 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 ...

, a position he held until losing re-election in 1918.

References

1869 births 1947 deaths Trade unionists from British Columbia Trade unionists from Edinburgh Canadian coal miners Scottish emigrants to Canada Presidents of the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada {{Canada-bio-stub