William Henry Foster (May 3, 1847 – 1886) was a British-born American labor union leader. Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, Foster taught at a school from the age of 15. In 1862, he moved to

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

to undertake an apprenticeship as a printer. He returned to Liverpool to complete this, also joining the Liverpool Typographical Society. He then became a

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

, and found work in

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.

, before in October 1873 emigrating to the United States. He stayed briefly in Philadelphia, then 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 ...

, where he worked on the ''

Cincinnati Gazette The ''Cincinnati Commercial Tribune'' was a major daily newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio formed in 1896, and folded in 1930.(3 December 1930)OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN CINCINNATI QUITS; Commercial Tribune Stopped by McLean Interests After Political Shift in ...

'', but left in 1874 during a lock-out. Foster returned to work in Philadelphia, before in 1877 going back to Cincinnati, to work on the ''

Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, altho ...

''. Active in the

International Typographical Union The International Typographical Union (ITU) was a US trade union for the printing trade for newspapers and other media. It was founded on May 3, 1852, in the United States as the National Typographical Union, and changed its name to the Interna ...

(ITU), in 1878, he was elected as president of its local number 3. In the role, he successfully introduced

closed shop A pre-entry closed shop (or simply closed shop) is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times to remain employed. This is different fro ...

s at the ''Enquirer'', ''Sun'', ''Gazette'' and ''Commercial'', for which he gained the nickname of the "Original Boycotter". He also led the formation of the Cincinnati Trades Assembly, and served as its first president. In 1880, Foster founded a labor movement newspaper, the ''Exponent''. The following year, he chaired an ITU committee on amalgamated unions, in which role he promoted a conference of labor unions, to form a new federation. This was held in November 1881, and established the

Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada (FOTLU) was a federation of labor unions created on November 15, 1881, at Turner Hall in Pittsburgh. It changed its name to the American Federation of Labor (AF ...

(FOTLU), with Foster as its founding secretary. In 1883, he left the post, moved to Philadelphia once more, to work on the ''Evening Call''. The following year, he was elected as president of the ITU local number 2, and became founding secretary of the city's Central Labor Union. In 1885, Foster was re-elected as secretary of FOTLU. The following year, he joined the

Knights of Labor Knights of Labor (K of L), officially Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was an American labor federation active in the late 19th century, especially the 1880s. It operated in the United States as well in Canada, and had chapters also ...

, serving as its delegate to District Assembly 1. He died in 1886, while still in office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, William H. 1847 births 1886 deaths American trade union leaders British emigrants to the United States International Typographical Union people Trade unionists from Liverpool American trade unionists of English descent