Daniel J. Tobin
| Daniel J. Tobin | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 1875 County Clare, Ireland |
| Died | November 14, 1955 (aged 80) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Occupation | Union leader |
| Spouse(s) | Annie (Reagan) Tobin (d. 1920) Irene (Halloran) Tobin |
| Children | Frank, Frederick, Joseph, John, Edmund, Katherine |
| Parent(s) | John and Bridget (Kennelly) Tobin |
Daniel Joseph Tobin (April 1875 – November 14, 1955) was an American labor leader and president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT, or "the Teamsters") from 1907 to 1952. From 1917 to 1928, he was secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Labor. He served on the federation's Executive Council beginning in 1934, and served until his resignation in 1952.
Tobin was born in County Clare, Ireland, to John and Bridget (Kennelly) Tobin. His father was a shopkeeper, and the family Roman Catholic. He attended public school in Ireland, but did not graduate. In August 1898, he married Annie Reagan. The couple had five sons and one daughter.
Tobin immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1890. He found employment as a sheet metal worker, and attended high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts at night. In 1894, he became a motorman and driver for a local street car company. He found work as a truck driver for a local meatpacking firm (earning $11 a week), and joined Local 25 of the Teamsters at its founding. He was elected the union's business representative in 1904. On January 1, 1907, he was elected president of the Teamsters' Joint District Council covering the Boston area.
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) had begun organizing local unions of teamsters soon after its founding in 1886. These local unions were directly affiliated with the AFL rather than a national union of their own. In November 1898, the AFL called a convention to establish a national union for teamsters—the Team Drivers' International Union. George Innis was elected the union's first president. In 1902, another new national union of teamsters formed in Chicago, Illinois, the Team Driver's National Union. In 1903, the AFL brokered a merger agreement between the two unions, which created the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Cornelius Shea was elected the union's first president, but the union remained divided between its two primary predecessor groups.
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