John Golden (1863 – June 9, 1921) was an American textile worker and trade union leader. He was elected president of the United Textile Workers of America (UTW) each year from 1902 until shortly before his death in 1921. At the time of his death, he was declared as important to textile unionism as John Mitchell was to mining unionism.[1]
Originally from Lancashire, England, he began working as a boy as a mule spinner in the city's cotton mills. Active in the craft union movement, he was blacklisted by employers due to union activity and emigrated to the United States. He settled in the textile hub of Fall River, Massachusetts and was eventually elected treasurer of the National Mule Spinners' Organization of the United States and Canada. While in that office in 1902, he was elected president of the UTW. During his time as president, the UTW largely ignored textile workers who were not skilled white men, as was common in unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. As such, he was a vocal opponent of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), which was an anti-capitalist industrial union which sought to organize all textile workers into the same union regardless of race, gender, nationality, or skill. To undermine the IWW, Golden collaborated with company officials and frequently sent strikebreakers to IWW-led strikes, including the 1907 Skowhegan textile strike, the 1912 Lawrence textile strike, and the 1913 Paterson silk strike.[2] After the strike, IWW member and songwriter Joe Hill satirized Golden in the song "John Golden and the Lawrence Strike."[3] Golden became ill during the 1921 UTW convention and died in Brooklyn, New York on June 9. He was buried in Fall River.[1]
References
^ ab"John Golden Died Today". Fall River Globe. newspapers.com. June 9, 1921.
^Golin, Steve (1988). The Fragile Bridge: Paterson Silk Strike, 1913. Temple University Press. p. 87. ISBN978-1-56639-005-7.
^"John Golden and the Lawrence Strike (JOE HILL) (1912)". www.folkarchive.de.
john, golden, trade, unionist, john, golden, 1863, june, 1921, american, textile, worker, trade, union, leader, elected, president, united, textile, workers, america, each, year, from, 1902, until, shortly, before, death, 1921, time, death, declared, important. John Golden 1863 June 9 1921 was an American textile worker and trade union leader He was elected president of the United Textile Workers of America UTW each year from 1902 until shortly before his death in 1921 At the time of his death he was declared as important to textile unionism as John Mitchell was to mining unionism 1 John GoldenBorn1863Lancashire EnglandDiedJune 9 1921 1921 06 09 aged 57 58 Brooklyn New York City U S OccupationLabor organizerOriginally from Lancashire England he began working as a boy as a mule spinner in the city s cotton mills Active in the craft union movement he was blacklisted by employers due to union activity and emigrated to the United States He settled in the textile hub of Fall River Massachusetts and was eventually elected treasurer of the National Mule Spinners Organization of the United States and Canada While in that office in 1902 he was elected president of the UTW During his time as president the UTW largely ignored textile workers who were not skilled white men as was common in unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor As such he was a vocal opponent of the Industrial Workers of the World IWW which was an anti capitalist industrial union which sought to organize all textile workers into the same union regardless of race gender nationality or skill To undermine the IWW Golden collaborated with company officials and frequently sent strikebreakers to IWW led strikes including the 1907 Skowhegan textile strike the 1912 Lawrence textile strike and the 1913 Paterson silk strike 2 After the strike IWW member and songwriter Joe Hill satirized Golden in the song John Golden and the Lawrence Strike 3 Golden became ill during the 1921 UTW convention and died in Brooklyn New York on June 9 He was buried in Fall River 1 References Edit a b John Golden Died Today Fall River Globe newspapers com June 9 1921 Golin Steve 1988 The Fragile Bridge Paterson Silk Strike 1913 Temple University Press p 87 ISBN 978 1 56639 005 7 John Golden and the Lawrence Strike JOE HILL 1912 www folkarchive de Trade union officesPreceded byJames Tansey President of the United Textile Workers of America1902 1921 Succeeded byThomas F MacMahonPreceded byWilliam D MahonMatthew Woll American Federation of Labor delegate to the Trades Union Congress1917 With James Lord Succeeded byWilliam J BowenSamuel Gompers This biographical article about a trade unionist is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title John Golden trade unionist amp oldid 1145385130, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
