Joseph F. Finnegan

Joseph Francis Finnegan (September 12, 1904 – February 12, 1964) was an American labor mediator who was appointed by President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower to serve as the fourth Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service from 1955 to 1961, and served as the first director of the equivalent body in New York State.

Early life and education He was born on September 12, 1904, in North Adams, Massachusetts. His newspaperman father moved the family to New York City when Finnegan was a youth. He attended St. Francis Xavier High School there and graduated from Columbia University in 1928. He was an evening student at Fordham University School of Law, graduating in 1931 his law degree. Passage of the Wagner Act in 1935 led to a surge in demand for labor law specialists and he pursued the trend and "became an expert awfully fast".

Finnegan discussed the issues of workforce changes resulting from increased use of automation, stating in 1960 that employers should not be saddled with "antiquated rules and methods", but that the workers made redundant through new technologies should not be handled as "a robot to be cast on a trash heap". He remained in the position until stepping down in November 1963 due to illness, three months before his death.

Personal A resident of Arlington County, Virginia, Finnegan died at age 59 on February 12, 1964, due to lung disease. He was survived by his wife, the former Maurine Clarkson Schooler.