Michael F. Tighe
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Michael Francis Tighe (1858-1940) was an American steelworker and trade union leader. He was a member of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers for 64 years. From 1911 to 1919, he served as secretary-treasurer. He then was elected national president, a position he kept until December 31, 1936. He was known as a relative conservatism within the labor movement and opposed John L. Lewis and the formation of the CIO before eventually working with the CIO's Steel Workers Organizing Committee.[1] The AA and SWOC merged in 1942 to form the United Steelworkers.
Tighe was the son of a steelworker. He began working at the age of 10 in a nail factory in Wheeling, West Virginia where he made $2 a week. He began his career as a steelworker at 14 and served an apprenticeship as a member of the Sons of Vulcan.[1]