William D. Mahon

William Daniel Mahon
William D. Mahon from a set of playing cards published by the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America
Born	1861 Athens, Ohio, United States
Died	1949 (aged 88)
Nationality	American
Occupation	Miner, streetcar driver, labor leader
Known for	President of the Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees of America

William Daniel Mahon (1861–1949) was a former coal miner and streetcar driver who became president of the Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees of America, now the Amalgamated Transit Union.

William D. Mahon was born in Athens, Ohio in 1861. He worked in the Hocking Valley coalfields of Ohio as a miner. In the late 1880s he moved to Columbus, Ohio and became a mule car driver. Mahon wrote of conditions in the days of horse-drawn trolleys, "It is a fact that in the early days the horse received much better treatment than the car man who drove him. Men could be easily replaced even at the miserable wages paid, but a horse cost money." In 1893 Mahon represented the Columbus local in asking the Ohio Legislature pass a law requiring streetcar companies to enclose their cars to protect the platform men. The request was successful despite strong opposition from the street railway owners, and the first vestibule law was passed that year.

The Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employes of America ("the Amalgamated") was founded at a meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, in September 1892 called by Samuel Gompers of the American Federation of Labor. Mahon attended the meeting as representative of the Columbus local, but said little. William J. Law was elected president. The union struggled during its first year, and Law proved to be an ineffective leader. William D. Mahon was elected president at the 1893 convention.

Unlike other AFL unions, the Amalgamated had an industrial charter, in theory covering all occupations in the transit industry. In practice, it mainly focused on motormen and conductors. Mahon was president of the Amalgamated from 1893 until he retired in 1946. From 1898 to 1900 he was also the presiding judge at the Michigan State Court of Arbitration. At the start of the 20th century the Amalgamated Association launched a militant organizing program. Although the union was always willing to arbitrate in disputes, there were many strikes against the streetcar companies. Often these turned violent. The public and small businesses sympathized with the strikers, and passengers and other unions often became involved in the street actions.