born Aug. 16, 1894, New York, N.Y., U.S.
died Jan. 10, 1980, Washington, D.C.
U.S. labour leader.
A plumber by trade, he joined the United Association of Plumbers and Steam Fitters in 1915 and rose through the ranks as a union official. He was elected secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1939 and became its president in 1952. He led the merger of the AFL and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in 1955, helping reconcile the two federations despite their competitiveness and long-standing differences. Conservative and anticommunist, as president of the AFL-CIO (1955–79) he steered the U.S. labour movement away from radicalism. Feisty and often dictatorial, he expelled the United Automobile Workers in 1967 after disputes with {{link=Reuther, Walter Philip">Walter Reuther . Meany wielded considerable influence in the Democratic Party through the 1970s.