Lewis, John L(lewellyn) (1880-1969)

US labour leader. President of the United Mine Workers (UMW) 1920-60, he was largely responsible for the adoption of national mining safety standards in the USA. His militancy and the miners' strikes during and after World War II led to President Truman's nationalization of the mines in 1946.

He helped found the American Federation of Labor's offshoot, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), 1935, which unionized workers in mass-production industries.

Born in Lucas, Iowa, Lewis worked in the coal mines from an early age. He became a regional officer of the United Mine Workers (UMW) and served as its liaison with the American Federation of Labor in 1911. In the presidential election of 1940 he urged US labour to support Wendell Willkie, believing that F D Roosevelt was leading the country into war. The result was that he split the ranks of the CIO, and ensured Roosevelt's return in triumph. Lewis accordingly resigned from the presidency of the CIO, but continued to exercise a strong influence on US labour.