Reid Robinson (born June 7, 1908) was an American labor unionist. Born in

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...

, Robinson moved with his family to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

in 1914, then to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

in 1918, and back to Butte in 1921. After school, he worked in the copper mines. He joined the

International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers The International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW) was a labor union representing miners and workers in related occupations in the United States and Canada. The union played an important role in the protection of workers and in d ...

, of which his father had become secretary-treasurer. Robinson devoted much of his time to the union, and built the Butte Miner's No. 1 local into the most important in the entire organization. He became its financial secretary and then, in 1935, won election as president of the international union. He was also elected as a vice-president of the

Congress of Industrial Organizations The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...

. In 1945 he attended and spoke at the

World Trade Union Conference The World Trade Union Conference between 6–17 February 1945 was participated in by countries from all around the world, at County Hall, London. Regarded as a significant moment within the international labour movement as it was the first time tha ...

in London. Under Robinson's leadership, the union's membership increased from 20,000 to more than 90,000. He recruited large numbers of organizers, some of whom were communists. This alienated many of his former supporters, who were on the right wing of the union. He was re-elected in 1946, but resigned in 1947 as he lost the support of the union's executive. In 1947, Robinson was elected as the union's eastern vice-president, in which role he focused on organizing Canadian miners, while also backing

Henry A. Wallace Henry Agard Wallace (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was an American politician, journalist, farmer, and businessman who served as the 33rd vice president of the United States, the 11th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and the 10th U.S. S ...

's campaign in the

1948 United States presidential election The 1948 United States presidential election was the 41st quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 1948. In one of the greatest election upsets in American history, incumbent President Harry S. Truman, the Democra ...

. Despite not himself being a communist, he was deported from Canada as a communist agitator, and in 1950 he resigned his union positions. He moved back to Butte, then to California, where he worked in various manual jobs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Reid 1908 births Year of death missing American trade union leaders People from Butte, Montana Trade unionists from Montana People deported from Canada International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers people Vice Presidents of the Congress of Industrial Organizations American expatriates in Canada