Glenn Watts
American labor union leader
About Glenn Watts
Lived 1920 – 2002 (aged 81–82).
Glenn Ellis Watts (June 4, 1920 – August 30, 2002) was an American labor union leader.
Born in Stony Point, North Carolina, Watts' family moved to Washington, D.C. during the Great Depression. He attended Wilson Teachers College. In 1941, he began working as a telephone installer with the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, and he joined the National Federation of Telephone Workers. He was soon elected as president of his local, then began working full-time for the union. He was elected as vice president of District 2 of what had become the Communication Workers of America (CWA), and then in 1956 became an assistant to president Joseph A. Beirne. He also promoted better rights for women at work. He was a vice president of the AFL–CIO, and persuaded the federation to create a Committee on Women.
Watts also served as president of the Postal, Telegraph and Telephone International, in which he prioritized support for unionization in Latin America. He served on the Democratic National Committee, as chair of the board of governors of the United Way of America, on the National Holocaust Memorial Commission, and as a trustee of the Ford Foundation. He retired in 1985, to live in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
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Important facts
People in Glenn Watts's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Glenn Watts's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Glenn Watts?
American labor union leader
When was Glenn Watts born?
Glenn Watts was born in 1920.
When did Glenn Watts die?
Glenn Watts died in 2002.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Glenn Watts. https://biography.guide/glenn-watts/
MLA: "Glenn Watts." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/glenn-watts/.
Chicago: "Glenn Watts." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/glenn-watts/.
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