Robinson devoted much of his time to the union, building the Butte Miner's No. 1 local into the most significant in the organization. He served as its financial secretary before being elected president of the international union in 1935. He also became a vice-president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.[1]
In 1945, Robinson attended and spoke at the World Trade Union Conference in London.[2] Under his leadership, the union's membership grew from 20,000 to more than 90,000. He recruited many organizers, including communists, which caused friction with the union's right-wing supporters. Despite being re-elected in 1946, he resigned in 1947 due to losing support from the union's executive.[1]
Robinson was elected as the union's eastern vice-president in 1947, focusing on organizing Canadian miners and supporting Henry A. Wallace's campaign in the 1948 United States presidential election. Though he was not a communist, he was deported from Canada as a communist agitator and resigned from his union positions in 1950. He moved back to Butte, then to California, where he worked in various manual jobs.[1]
References
1234Fink, Gary (1984). Biographical Dictionary of American Labor. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN0313228655.