Richard Francis Walsh (February 20, 1900 – August 13, 1992) was an American labor unionist.

Biography

Born on February 20, 1900, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, Walsh completed an apprenticeship as an electrician at the

Fifth Avenue Theatre The Fifth Avenue Theatre was a Broadway theatre in Manhattan, New York City, United States, at 31 West 28th Street and Broadway (1185 Broadway). It was demolished in 1939. Built in 1868, it was managed by Augustin Daly in the mid-1870s. In ...

. He joined the

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada, known as simply the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE or ...

(IATSE) before, in 1923, moving to work at the Metropolitan Theater. Walsh was elected as president of his union local in 1924, serving until 1926, when he became its business agent. In 1934, he was elected as a vice-president of the international union, and then in 1941 he became its president. He served as the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

's (AFL) delegate to the

Trades and Labor Congress of Canada The Trades and Labor Congress of Canada was a Canada-wide central federation of trade unions from 1886 to 1956. It was founded at the initiative of the Toronto Trades and Labour Council and the Knights of Labor. It was the third attempt at a n ...

in 1948, and to the British

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

in 1952. In 1955, the AFL merged into the new

AFL-CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

, and Walsh was elected as one of its vice-presidents. He also served as president of the Inter-American Federation of Entertainment Workers, and as a director of the Union Labor Life Insurance Company. He retired in 1974, and lived in

Freeport, New York Freeport is a Political subdivisions of New York State#Village, village in the town of Hempstead, New York, Hempstead, in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island, in New York (state), ...

until his death on August 13, 1992, aged 92.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Richard F. 1900 births 1992 deaths American trade union leaders Activists from Brooklyn Trade unionists from New York (state) Vice presidents of the AFL-CIO