James A. Suffridge (February 2, 1909 – June 7, 2001) was an American labor unionist. Born in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, Suffridge's father encouraged him to box as a child. James then followed his father in becoming a grocer, moving to

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, where he joined the

Retail Clerks International Union The Retail Clerks International Union (RCIU) was a North American labor union that represented retail employees. History The RCIU was chartered as the Retail Clerks National Protective Union in 1890 by the American Federation of Labor. It later ...

(RCIU). He was soon elected as leader of his local, in which role he encouraged Asian Americans to join the union, while they were often excluded from other unions. He also became known for making compromises with large grocery chains, in exchange for them permitting their workers to unionize. In 1944, Suffridge was elected as president of the RCIU, moving to the top position of secretary-treasurer in 1947. He moved the union's headquarters to

Lafayette, Indiana Lafayette ( ) is a city in and is the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Lafayette ...

, and then to

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

. In 1953, the union decided to make the presidency its senior position, and Suffridge moved back into it. He came to national prominence, and in 1961 went on an international goodwill tour with

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

. He was elected as president of the

International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, and Technical Employees The International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees (FIET; ) was a global union federation bringing together workers representing clerical workers. The union was sometimes known as the International Federati ...

in 1964. Suffridge retired from the RCIU in 1968, and from the international federation two years later. He moved to

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the List o ...

, where he was active in the

Shriners Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic body, Masonic society. Founded in 1872 in New York City, it is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and has over ...

and played golf.

References

1909 births 2001 deaths American trade union leaders People from Knoxville, Tennessee Vice presidents of the AFL-CIO Trade unionists from Tennessee Retail Clerks International Union leaders {{trade-unionist-bio-stub