John L. Lewis, (born Feb. 12, 1880 , near Lucas, Iowa, U.S. —died June 11, 1969 , Washington, D.C.), U.S. labour leader. The son of Welsh immigrants, he became a coal miner at age 15. He rose through the ranks of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and from 1911 was also an organizer of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), with which the miners’ union was affiliated. As president of the UMWA (1920–60), Lewis joined several other AFL union leaders in forming the Committee for Industrial Organization (1935) to organize workers in mass-production industries. On breaking with the AFL (see AFL-CIO), Lewis and other dissident union heads founded the Congress of Industrial Organizations. As its president (1936–40), Lewis presided over the often-violent struggle to introduce unionism into previously unorganized industries such as steel and automobiles. See also William Green; labour union; Philip Murray.
