Thomas A. Rickert

{{Short description|American labor union leader (1876–1941)}}

File:National Industrial Conference 1919 Trim.jpg, 1919]]

Thomas Alfred Rickert (April 24, 1876 – July 28, 1941) was an American labor union leader.

Born in Chicago, Rickert studied business, but then became a garment cutter, and joined the United Garment Workers of America. In 1904, he was elected as president of the union. As leader of the union, he was regarded as a strong negotiator, and a close associate of Samuel Gompers. However, two-thirds of the union's membership split away to form the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, alienated by Rickert's conservative approach.{{cite news |title=Thomas A. Rickert, A.F.of L. official |work=New York Times |date=July 30, 1941}}{{cite book |title=The Samuel Gompers Papers |date=1986 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=9780252033896}}

He served on the National War Labor Board during World War I, and was a vice-president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) from 1918. In 1934, he denounced the New Deal, arguing that the government was competing with private enterprise and thereby destroying jobs. In 1939, he became part of the AFL team negotiating with the rival Congress of Industrial Organizations, in which post he opposed any concessions to the other organization.