William J. Spencer (1867–1933) was an American labor leader who was secretary-treasurer of the Building Trades Department of the American Federation of Labor from its founding nearly continuously until his death in 1933.
Spencer was born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1867. He became a plumber and emigrated to Buffalo, New York, in 1894, were he joined Local 36 of the Journeymen Plumbers.
Spencer was elected secretary-treasurer of the international Plumbers' union in 1897. In 1900, he was appointed "general organizer" of the union.
In 1903, Spencer was elected secretary-treasurer of the Structural Building Trades Alliance (SBTA). He served until 1908, when the SBTA affiliated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and became the Building Trades Department (BTD). He was elected secretary-treasurer of the BTD, and served until 1924. He was elected to the same office again in 1927, and served until his death in 1933.
In 1904, Spencer was elected eighth vice-president of the AFL. He served one year.
Spencer lived in Dayton, Ohio, from 1903 to 1912, after which he lived in Washington, D.C.
Famous quotes containing the words william and/or spencer:
“In the long course of history, having people who understand your thought is much greater security than another submarine.”
—J. William Fulbright (b. 1905)
“Anyone can see that to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin on the knee in the kitchen, with constant calls to cooking and other details of housework to punctuate the paragraphs, was a more difficult achievement than to write it at leisure in a quiet room.”
—Anna Garlin Spencer (1851–1931)