Murray, Philip

(1886-1952)

   Philip Murray was born the son of a miner in Scotland and came to the United States with his family in 1902. He became a naturalized citizen in 1911. He worked as a miner near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and became president of the local district of the United Mine Workers Union (UMW) in 1916. By 1920 he was vice president of the union under John L. Lewis. Murray sat on the National War Labor Board and National Coal Production Committee during World War I. In the 1930s, he supported President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal and was a member of the board of the National Recovery Administration (NRA). In 1935, Murray, Lewis, and Sidney Hillman were the leading forces in the formation of the Committee for Industrial Organizations within the American Federation of Labor. Murray became president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1940. In 1936, Murray took charge of leading the Steel Workers’ Organizing Committee that secured recognition from “Big Steel,” including the U.S. Steel Corporation, in 1937. “Little Steel” held out until 1941. From 1942 to 1952, Murray was president of United Steel Workers of America (USWA). By then, differences with Lewis, particularly with regard to the “no-strike pledge” during World War II, had led to his expulsion from the UMW. During the war, Murray supported the Fair Employment Practices Committee and called for the integration of black workers in trade unions and employment. After the war, he opposed the Taft-Hartley Act and worked to redefine some of its applications. Although a close adviser to Harry S. Truman, Murray was involved in a confrontation with the president in 1952 when Truman threatened to nationalize the steel industry to prevent a strike. When the Supreme Court ruled against the president in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, Murray led the USWA on strike. Although he was forced to end the strike after 51 days, agreement was reached in 1952 recognizing some of the union’s demands. It was the last major event in Murray’s life.